Structure 16240800000000 · Cook County, IL

Il 171 NB To I-55 over San & Ship Canal

Carries Il 171 NB To I-55 over San & Ship Canal, 1 M N Archer AVE.

Overall conditionFair

Set by its lowest-rated component: Superstructure at 5 of 9.

How ratings work
Deck6/9 · Satisfactory
Superstructuresets the rating5/9 · Fair
Substructure7/9 · Good
Channelnot part of overall8/9 · Very Good
0 failed4 poor6 fair9 excellent

Elevation

Side view, colored by inspection rating
SEMI-TRUCK · 72 FT635 FT OVERALL100 FT0ELEVATION · LENGTHS TO SCALE
Deck 6/9Superstructure 5/9 · sets the ratingSubstructure 7/9

635 ft end to end, longest span 188 ft: about 1.8 football fields. Lengths and the semi-truck on the deck are drawn to the same scale. Each part is colored by its latest inspection rating. The inventory records lengths but not heights or the layout of the shorter spans, so those are drawn as typical for a multi-beam bridge.

Built1981rebuilt 2001
Length635.2 ft193.6 m
Daily traffic14,500counted 2023
Last inspectedNovember 2024every 24 months

Location

StateIllinois
CountyCook
Location1 M N Archer AVE
CarriesIl 171 NB To I-55
CrossesSan & Ship Canal
Coordinates41.79187, -87.81577

Physical Characteristics

MaterialSteel Continuous
DesignStringer/Multi-beam
Total Length635.2 ft (193.6 m)
Max Span188.3 ft (57.4 m)
Deck Width27.9 ft (8.5 m)
Deck Area1645.6 sq m
Main Spans5
Year Built1981 (reconstructed 2001)

Traffic

Avg Daily Traffic14,500 (2023)
Truck Traffic5%
Lanes On Bridge1

Inspection & Ownership

Last InspectionNovember 2024
Inspection FrequencyEvery 24 months
OwnerState Highway Agency
Historical SignificanceBridge is not eligible for the National Register
Scour Critical8 — Stable, low risk
Structure Number016240800000000

How Bridge Ratings Work

Inspectors rate each major part of a bridge (the deck you drive on, the superstructure of beams that holds it up, and the substructure of piers and abutments beneath) on a 0–9 scale. A bridge's overall condition is its lowest of those ratings, so one deteriorated component makes the whole bridge "poor."

0Failed
1Imminent failure
2Critical
3Serious
4Poor
5Fair
6Satisfactory
7Good
8Very good
9Excellent
Good · lowest component 7–9
Fair · lowest component 5–6
Poor · lowest component 0–4

A poor rating is not a closure. It means the bridge is flagged for priority repair or replacement; bridges judged unsafe are closed or posted with weight limits. The waterway (channel) rating is reported, but it does not count toward the overall classification.

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