View source for Canal Street railroad bridge

{{Infobox Bridge
|bridge_name   = Canal Street railroad bridge
|image         = 2014-05-25 7356x4904 chicago pennsylvania railroad bridge.jpg
|caption       = Southbound Amtrak train crossing the South Branch Chicago River
|official_name = Pennsylvania Railroad Bridge #458<br/>Canal Street Railroad Bridge
|other_name    = 21st Street Bridge
|owner         = [[Amtrak]]<ref name="HSRA21stBridge">{{cite web |work=High Speed Rail Alliance |date=September 20, 2023 |title=Amtrak’s 21st Street bridge needs replaced |url=https://www.hsrail.org/blog/amtrak-21st-street-bridge-needs-replaced/ |access-date=April 2, 2024}}</ref>
|carries       = Amtrak, [[Metra]], and freight trains<ref name="HSRA21stBridge"/>
|crosses       = [[Chicago River]]
|locale        = [[Chicago]]
|maint         = 
|id            = 
|num_track     = 2
|designer = [[Waddell & Harrington]]
|design        = [[vertical-lift bridge]]
|mainspan      = {{convert|272.8|ft|m}}<ref name=HB>{{cite web |last=Holth |first=Nathan |url=http://www.historicbridges.org/illinois/sblift/index.htm |title=Canal Street Railroad Bridge |access-date=2009-04-30 |work=Historic Bridges of Michigan and Elsewhere |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090328023410/http://www.historicbridges.org/illinois/sblift/index.htm |archive-date=2009-03-28 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|length        = 
|width         =
|height        = 
|load          = 
|clearance     = 
|below         = 
|traffic       = Nearly 100 trains<ref name="Tier1FEIS-Section7">{{cite report |author1=[[Illinois Department of Transportation]] |author2=[[Federal Railroad Administration]] |title=Tier 1 Final Environmental Impact Statement: Chicago to St. Louis High-Speed Rail Program |section-url=https://railroads.dot.gov/elibrary/chicago-st-louis-volume-i-section-7-implementation-plan |section=Section 7: Implementation plan |publication-date=October 31, 2012 |pages=7–5, 7–6}}</ref>
|begin         = September 4, 1913<ref name="Smith & Priest">{{cite journal |last1=Smith |first1=W. L. |last2=Priest |first2=W. W. |year=1915 |title=The Design and Erection of the Pennsylvania Lift Bridge No. 458 Over the South Branch of the Chicago River |journal=Journal of the Western Society of Engineers |publisher=Western Society of Engineers |location=Chicago, IL |volume=XX |pages=478–500 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vlPOAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA478 |access-date=2009-04-30}}</ref>
|complete      = July 30, 1914<ref name="Smith & Priest" />
|open          = 
|heritage      = [[List of Chicago Landmarks|Chicago Landmark]]
|closed        = 
|coordinates   = {{coord|41|51|20.3|N|87|38|13.2|W|region:US-IL_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
}}
The '''Canal Street railroad bridge''' (or '''Pennsylvania Railroad bridge''') is a [[vertical-lift bridge]] across the south branch of the [[Chicago River]] in [[Chicago]], Illinois. It was designated a [[List of Chicago Landmarks|Chicago Landmark]] on December 12, 2007.<ref name=CLILaLD>{{cite web|title=Chicago Landmarks: Individual Landmarks and Landmark Districts designated as of January 1, 2008|publisher=Commission on Chicago Landmarks|date=2008-01-01|url=http://www.tonythetiger.frih.net/CCL_Booklet_1-1-08.pdf|access-date=2009-05-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080227233712/http://www.tonythetiger.frih.net/CCL_Booklet_1-1-08.pdf#|archive-date=2008-02-27|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Construction==
The present bridge was constructed for the [[Pennsylvania Railroad]] to replace a two-track [[swing bridge]] at the same location. The necessity to allow both continued use of the swing bridge and unimpeded river traffic during building work complicated construction of the bridge. The chosen solution was to construct the bridge in the raised position above the old bridge, then demolish the old bridge once construction was completed. The bridge was designed by [[Waddell & Harrington]], and fabricated and erected by the Pennsylvania Steel Company.<ref name="Smith & Priest" />

Construction of the south tower began on September 4, 1913. When the two {{convert|185|ft|m|adj=on}} towers were completed, [[falsework]] for the main span was constructed in a fan shape that allowed the main span to be constructed in the raised position {{convert|130|ft|m}} above the river. The bridge was built from steel and metal.<ref name=HAER />

==Operation==
The bridge carries two railroad tracks across the Chicago River at an angle of about 40 degrees to the center line of the river. Upon completion, the  main span could be raised {{convert|111|ft|m}} in about 45 seconds.<ref name="Smith & Priest" /> By 1916, each day the bridge was crossed by about 300 trains, and was raised for river traffic about 75 times.<ref>{{cite book|last=Waddell|first=James Alexander Low|title=Bridge Engineering|publisher=John Wiley & Sons Inc|location=New York|date=1916|volume=1|page=734|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nd4gAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA734|access-date=2009-04-30}}</ref>

There are proposals for an additional or replacement bridge at Canal Street to support the full high-speed, high-frequency build out of the [[St. Louis]]-Chicago ''[[Lincoln Service]]'' passenger rail line.<ref name="Tier1FEIS-Section7"/><ref name="2023ISRP">{{cite report |author=[[Illinois Department of Transportation]] |title=2023 Illinois state rail plan: Final report |section-url=https://idot.illinois.gov/content/dam/soi/en/web/idot/documents/transportation-system/fact-sheets/2023%20Illinois%20State%20Rail%20Plan%20Main%20Document.pdf#page=125 |page=3–8 |section=Chicago – St. Louis: Full build out}}</ref>

==Trivia== 
When it was constructed in 1914, its 1500-ton main span was the heaviest of any vertical lift bridge in the United States.<ref name="HAER">{{cite web|url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pnp/habshaer/il/il0700/il0706/data/il0706data.pdf|title=Pennsylvania Railroad, South Branch Chicago River Bridge|last2=Fitzsimons|first2=Gray|date=1992|website=Historic American Engineering Record|publisher=Library of Congress|location=Washington, D.C.|page=1|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140508042914/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pnp/habshaer/il/il0700/il0706/data/il0706data.pdf|archive-date=2014-05-08|url-status=|last3=Nicolay|first3=John|last4=Brucken|first4=Carolyn|last1=Alexander|first1=Frances|access-date=2014-05-07}}</ref> It is the only vertical-lift bridge across the Chicago River.

==Photo gallery==
<gallery>
File:Canal Street bridges HAER IL-112-9.jpg
File:Cermak Bridge Barge Passageway.jpg
</gallery>

==See also==
*[[List of bridges documented by the Historic American Engineering Record in Illinois]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{HAER |survey=IL-112 |id=il0706 |title=Pennsylvania Railroad, South Branch Chicago River Bridge, Spanning South Branch of Chicago River Bridge east of Canal Street, Chicago, Cook County, IL |photos=9 |data=4 |cap=2}}

{{Crossings navbox
|structure=Crossings
|place=[[South Branch Chicago River]]
|bridge=Canal Street railroad bridge
|bridge signs=[[File:Metra Logo.svg|20px]] [[File:Amtrak logo 2.svg|20px]]
|upstream=18th Street Bridge
|upstream signs=
|downstream=Canal Street Bridge (road)
|downstream signs=
|note=
}}
{{Chicago Landmark transportation}}

[[Category:Bridges in Chicago]]
[[Category:Bridges completed in 1914]]
[[Category:Historic American Engineering Record in Chicago]]
[[Category:Chicago Landmarks]]
[[Category:Lower West Side, Chicago]]
[[Category:Pennsylvania Railroad bridges]]
[[Category:Railroad bridges in Illinois]]
[[Category:Steel bridges in the United States]]