alt.hn

5/10/2026 at 1:31:23 AM

Chasing Chicago's movable bridges (2014)

 https://aresluna.org/seesaws-for-giants/

by NaOH

5/12/2026 at 1:05:12 PM

Surprised the article doesn’t mention the McCormick Bridgehouse Museum. It’s something like $5, and you can see the inside of one of those bridges.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/eUXWfkm8LVuYMDsc7

by codechicago277

5/12/2026 at 3:18:24 PM

You can go on bridge lift days during the fall + spring and see inside the engine room while the bridge goes up.

by bs7280

5/12/2026 at 12:59:10 PM

Great photos, many angles and views I haven’t seen myself. I used to have a desk in a corner overlooking the Congress expressway bridge (looking Southeast) and it was always fun to watch them halt traffic to open that one. I loved riding through the post office and over that bridge as a kid, usually on the way to the MSI.

I had a friend with a sailboat when I was young and though I did go sailing with his family sometimes, I wish I had the chance to ride with them while taking it past the bridges.

Another cool bridge to see is the disused rail bridge at the Northern tip of Goose Island. You can see it easily from North Ave. I passed by quite often as a kid and seeing the giant, concrete counterweight suspended up in the air always made me kind of nervous it would crash down as we were passing by.

by nkrisc

5/12/2026 at 2:17:11 PM

I'm curious why the sailboats need to enter and leave once a year? Is it that they are drydocked over the winter?

by gwbas1c

5/12/2026 at 2:19:31 PM

yes - the lake freezes.

I should also clarify. The sailboats in particular need the bridges raised which is why they have a scheduled time to exit. Ordinary boats can be removed closer to the water or navigate the river without the bridge being raised. Those boats are also removed for the winter.

by davidjfelix

5/12/2026 at 6:40:02 PM

Chicago in February is indistinguishable from Hoth.

by Wonnk13

5/12/2026 at 7:01:20 PM

Its not that warm in Chicago.

by sophacles

5/12/2026 at 2:41:20 PM

Yes. The lake and river will typically freeze over for most of the winter. Any boat in the water would be smashed to bits by wind-blown ice.

by nkrisc

5/12/2026 at 7:39:53 PM

These particular sailboats are stored in the winter at either Chicago Yacht Works or the Canal Street Boat Yard.

by trillic

5/12/2026 at 9:32:35 PM

To expand: the Chicago Harbors close over the winter. You can do whatever you want with your boat, but you can’t keep it there.

Second, the Chicago River system is a navigable waterway according to federal law. The bridges must open for your boat to pass. But… there isn’t much in the way of a requirement about how long you have to wait. As a compromise, the city and the boat owners got together and designate opening times that are convenient enough, and then flotillas of boats get together to use the system at those times.

The bridges still open when large commercial vessels want them to, but that is increasingly rare as most river boats have their pilothouse on hydraulics - it raises for visibility in open space and lowers to go under the bridges.

Oh, and the Kinzie St bridge is not permanently open. It closes once a year for about 30 minutes while they drive a truck with train wheels over it. This maintains the status as an active rail line - Union Pacific doesn’t want to give up ownership of the right of way (which is legitimately valuable).

by stockresearcher

5/12/2026 at 6:43:01 PM

I don't know what it is about Chicago, but I find I have an insatiable curiosity about everything. I've never thought much about bridges, but when I'm in the loop I just stare at them sometimes. I love the architecture, the parks, the bike lanes it's just too bad it's in Illinois ha!

by Wonnk13

5/12/2026 at 4:27:48 PM

In my city we have bridges like this that go up and down dozens of times a day.

by alehlopeh

5/12/2026 at 5:52:09 PM

One of such bridges in St. Petersburg in Russia is very close to the KGB/FSB regional headquarters (it is 2nd building right from the bridge, totally dominating the surroundings) and 15 years ago, when times in Russia were still softer, prankers drew a large male organ on the bridge right before the bridge was raised https://plucer.livejournal.com/265584.html right into the face of the KGB/FSB building.

According to some sources https://www.drive2.ru/b/288230376151944232/ it was even shortlisted in the national modern art competition. That were the times. Today in Russia even just thinking about it would get you 5 to 10 years for discreditation of the state organs.

by trhway