Construction crews are moving a new viaduct into place on the CTA Purple Line at Greenleaf Street in Evanston this weekend. And you can watch live video of the action here.
The video feed, arranged by the City of Evanston, captures the action from a location at the Autobarn dealership just south of the construction site.
Top: The new bridge in the Jewel parking lot, ready for its roll-in. Above: Demolishing the old CTA viaduct piers, with the old Metra viaduct in the background. (Photos by Mike Perlman)
The peak of the action is expected between 4 and 7 p.m. today when the actual roll-in of the viaduct is scheduled to take place.
Cleaning up some of the rubble late in the morning.
Lowering one of the pre-cast concrete bridge piers into place early this afternoon.
The massive bridge structure on the move.
Checking the positioning.
The new bridge in place as the sun sets — with finishing work to do through the rest of the wekeend.
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CTA to roll in new viaduct in Evanston this weekend
what of the huge viaduct at Emerson?
Does anyone know if the monster viaduct at Simpson/Ridge/Green Bay Road that carries both the CTA and METRA will be replaced? That baby is far too big for the drop in procedure, but my impression is that it is newer than the 100 year old viaducts that are being replaced.
Viaduct
Clif,
I think the viaduct that you refer to is at EMERSON/Ridge/Green Bay. And it is Metra only; the CTA viaduct is a bit to the East. But it is huge, as you stated, since it covers the cross streets underneath. I believe that it was put more recently then 100 years ago (no concrete decks like the ones being replaced). Maybe 50 or so years ago when they "improved" that corner?
Re: what of the huge viaduct at Emerson
Clif,
The structure at Emerson/Ridge/Green Bay does not carry the CTA tracks, only the Union Pacific tracks which serve the Metra UP-North line. The CTA tracks are 1200 ft to the east at that point, by Emerson/Elgin/Benson. Based on the most recent CTA slow-zone map not showing any slow-zones in that area I would assume that the Emerson and Elgin bridges are in alright shape.
Back to the Emerson/Ridge/Green Bay bridge, the National Bridge Inventory shows it was built in 1954, and is not listed as being structurally deficient. With it not being included in Metra's UP-N 22 bridge replacement project, which is running through 2018, I would not expect to see this bridge replaced anytime soon.
Full details from the National Bridge Inventory:
State: IL
Place Name: Evanston
County: Cook
NBI Structure Number: 000016065723359
Route Sign Prefix: Other
Route Number: 3509
Facility Carried: C&NW RR
Feature Intersected: EMERSON RD&RIDGE AVE
Location: 0.9 M W LAKE MCH P6
Year Built: 1954
Level of Service: Mainline roadway
Functional Class: Minor Arterial, Urban
Service On Bridge: Railroad
Service Under Bridge: Highway, with or without pedestrian
Latitude: 42 03 07.76 N
Longitude: 87 41 17.90 W
Material Design: Steel
Design Construction: Girder and Floorbeam System
Structure Length (m): 91.4
Lanes under Structure: 4
Average Daily Traffic: 12000
Year of Average Daily Traffic: 2010
bridge inventory on the Lincoln Street CTA bridge
Dan – you're right about that bridge being METRA only – duh, what was I thinking? Maybe I automatically associate the CTA with rust? : ) Thanks for the detailed info on it.
I went to the national bridge inventory site hoping to find the other bridge I'm curious about – the one that goes over the intersection of Lincoln and Ridge…but I could not find any way to look up specific info as you did. I would guess this bridge is younger than the typical viaduct bridge. Are you able to provide the info for that one?