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This suspension footbridge with very lightweight double-warren pony truss stiffening that is topped with pole railing is an attractive addition to Garfield Park. The bridge has very short and relatively simple concrete towers for the suspension cables. These cable are embedded in the abutments which double as anchorages. The stiffening trusses extend away from the bridge on the outsides of the towers, but as this section is not part of the bridge proper, they serve a decorative and railing function only. Decorative pillars that are shorter than the towers are located at the ends of the bridge. The bridge seen today appears to be original and fairly old, judging by the concrete and the stiffening trusses, however it does not appear to be the original Garfield Park suspension footbridge. The below ca. 1912 photo of a footbridge in the park shows a very similar bridge, however with stone abutments instead of concrete, different tower appearance, and no decorative pillars at the ends of the spans.
Above: 1916 postcard of bridge.
Chicago and Cook County are home to one of the largest collections of historic bridges in the country, and no other city in the world has more movable bridges. HistoricBridges.org is proud to offer the most extensive coverage of historic Chicago bridges on the Internet.
General Chicago / Cook County Bridge Resources
Chicago's Bridges - By Nathan Holth, author of HistoricBridges.org, this book provides a discussion of the history of Chicago's movable bridges, and includes a virtual tour discussing all movable bridges remaining in Chicago today. Despite this broad coverage, the book is presented in a compact format that is easy to take with you and carry around for reference on a visit to Chicago. The book includes dozens of full color photos. Only $9.95 U.S! ($11.95 Canadian). Order Now Direct From The Publisher! or order on Amazon.
Chicago River Bridges - By Patrick T. McBriarty, this is a great companion to Holth's book shown above. This much larger book offers an extremely in-depth exploration of Chicago's movable highway bridges, including many crossings that have not existed for many years. Order Now Direct From The Publisher! or order on Amazon.
View Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) Overview of Chicago Bascule Bridges (HAER Data Pages, PDF)
Chicago Loop Bridges - Chicago Loop Bridges is another website on the Internet that is a great companion to the HistoricBridges.org coverage of the 18 movable bridges within the Chicago Loop. This website includes additional information such as connections to popular culture, overview discussions and essays about Chicago's movable bridges, additional videos, and current news and events relating to the bridges.
Additional Online Articles and Resources - This page is a large gathering of interesting articles and resources that HistoricBridges.org has uncovered during research, but which were not specific to a particular bridge listing.
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