The Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Bridge, Lemont, Illinois

This bridge in Lemont, Illinois, just outside of Chicago was built in 1898 by the Keystone Bridge Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with the superstructure contractor being Carnegie Steel Company. This rail bridge was constructed for the Santa Fe Railway which merged with the Burlington Northern Railway in 1996 to form the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway.

The bridge originally cost $84,391.45 to construct and has a total weight of 2,315,656 pounds. The bridge is 398 feet long and spans the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal.

The canal is always busy with barges running up and down its length. The railway bridge is equally busy with freight trains constantly coming through day and night. The roadway under the bridge is split for cars and trucks as a large volume of semis travel under the bridge going to and from the ports along the canal.

An interesting fact is that in 1942 this bridge and 7 other bridges between the mouth of the Chicago River and Lockport, Illinois were converted into moveable spans to permit the movement of larger boats up & down the canal. This was during WWII and was for the benefit of the U.S. Navy. If you look closely you’ll see the turntable here below the bridge. I’m not sure if this bridge is even turned anymore or when the last time it was turned.

GPS Location: 41º40’45.1″N 87º59’59.9″W