The State Road bridge over the Chicago River is about to shut for seven months of emergency repairs, following a latest inspection that discovered components of the bridge in poor situation.
The total closure is scheduled from April 28, by means of mid-November, the Chicago Division of Transportation introduced Friday.
The division was planning to restore the bridge later, however an inspection this 12 months uncovered “deterioration” that prompted the emergency repairs, CDOT spokesperson Erica Schroeder stated in an e-mail.
Crews will restore ground beams and different components of the bridge which have been broken by excessive warmth, she stated. The repairs will enhance the alignment between the 2 bridge leaves. Viaducts on the north facet of the river should even be repaired.
The Riverwalk, which passes underneath the south finish of the bridge, will stay open throughout building, Schroeder stated.
“Impacts to the Riverwalk are anticipated to be minimal, as the vast majority of work will happen within the heart of the bridge,” she stated.
Site visitors will probably be diverted west to Dearborn and Clark streets.
The bridge, constructed in 1949 and rebuilt in 1994, was discovered to be “structurally poor” throughout an inspection in September 2024, in line with public data posted by the state’s transportation division.
“Structurally poor” doesn’t imply the bridge is unsafe to make use of. Nevertheless it does imply that load-bearing components of the bridge are in “poor or worse situation attributable to deterioration and/or injury,” in line with the state transportation division.
The identical inspection famous that the bridge’s deck was in “truthful situation,” with minor part loss and cracks, however labeled the higher a part of the bridge to be in “poor situation” with “superior deterioration.”
The outcomes have been the identical within the earlier inspection in September 2022.
An inspection in September 2020 discovered the substructure to be in “critical situation,” although newer inspections listed it as “truthful.” The state inspects most bridges each two years, at the very least.
Practically 7,000 automobiles move over the bridge day by day, a couple of tenth of them vans, in line with a latest inspection filed with the state.
