Who are those other guys and what did they do?

A look at Chicago bridge engineers at the turn of the 20th Century

by

James S. Phillips

Introduction
July 4, 2009 marked the centennial of The Plan of Chicago authored by Daniel H.
Burnham and Edward H. Bennett. The focus of The Plan was to create a city that would
achieve two major goals - provide an efficient environment for commerce and a
beautiful environment that would add to the quality of life for city residents.
Burnham and Bennett received many accolades for their vision of Chicago. In
addition, Edward Bennett was the architectural consultant for the Chicago Plan
Commission which meant that he had a great deal of influence on the major projects
built in the city between 1909 and 1930, including the bascule bridges in the Loop.1 Mr.
Bennett's name appears on plaques of eleven bridges built in this era (W. Washington,
W. Jackson, W. Lake, W. Monroe, N. Michigan, N. Franklin-Orleans, N. Wells, W.
Madison, W. Adams, N La Salle, and N. Wabash – see Illustration 1).
Mr. Bennett was instrumental in ensuring that the bridges were beautiful. While
there were some architectural considerations in the bridge components themselves, most
of the architectural attention was focused on the bridge tender houses, abutments,
staircases, and railings.
While Mr. Bennett had a major role in defining the appearance of the bridges, he did
not “design” these bridges. Other names appear on the bridge plaques. “Who are those
other guys and what did they do?”

1 The bridges of interest here are located on the Main and South Branches of the Chicago River between N. Lake Shore
Dr. and W. Van Buren St. Illustration 1 shows the area and the location of the bridges.
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3 2 1
10 9 8 76 5
4
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18

1. N Lake Shore Dr 7. N Clark St** 13. W Washington Blvd**

2. N Columbus Dr 8. N LaSalle St** 14. W Madison St**
3. N Michigan Ave** 9. N Wells St** 15. W Monroe St**
4. N Wabash Ave** 10. N Franklin-Orleans St** 16. W Adams St**
5. N State St 11. W Lake St** 17. W Jackson Blvd**
6. N Dearborn St 12. W Randolph St 18. W Van Buren St

Illustration 1: Location of Downtown Chicago Bridges (bridges marked with double asterisk were built between
1913 and 1930)

Some History
To answer that question, we need to look back at the 1890's, when all of Chicago's
movable bridges were center pier swing bridges. This type of bridge has a turntable on a
pier in the middle of the river (Illustration 2). Commercial vessels had grown large
enough that these center piers were a hindrance to navigation especially in the relatively
“tight” turn from the Main Branch to the South Branch (see Illustration 1). The need for
more room in the river channel made the shipping and marine interests push Chicago
and its engineers to develop a more navigation-friendly bridge.
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Illustration 2: Lithograph in James W. Sheahan, Chicago Illustrated (Chicago: Jevne &

Almini, 1866). P&P,LC-USZ62-23805. (Library of Congress Digital image provided in
BRIDGES by Richard Cleary, copyright 2007, W.W. Norton & Company.)

Three prototype bridge designs emerged that met the goal of adequate channel width
but with varying degrees of success meeting the operational criteria. These were the
folding-lift bridge, the vertical lift span, and the rolling lift bascule bridge. Each of these
designs was patented by their respective designers: the folding-lift by Captain William
Harman; the vertical lift span by J. A. L. Waddell; and the rolling lift bascule by William
and Albert Scherzer.
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The folding-lift bridge had a dual action. It lifted vertically then folded mid-leaf to
allow for a fairly wide clear span (see Illustration 3). This particular concept proved too
complex and troublesome to operate and maintain. Only two of these bridges were built
in the 1890's. They were at Canal and Weed Streets. The Canal Street bridge was
replaced with a rolling lift bridge in 1903 and the Weed Street bridge was removed in
1905.

Bridge up
Leaf folded at hinge Bridge Down

Span hinge

Illustration 3: The Harman Folding Lift Bridge (drawing taken from the Harman's 1888 patent)
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In the vertical lift span bridge (Illustration 4), all or a portion of the river span lifted
up via hoists and cables, similar to an elevator car. This bridge, while effective, was
expensive to build and maintain. It was also considered to be less than attractive by
some. Illustration 3 shows the drawing of this type of bridge as shown in the 1893
patent. No vertical lift bridges were built between N. Lake Shore Drive and W. Van
Buren Street. (Today, a vertical lift railroad bridge can be seen crossing the South
Branch near Canal Street – near Ping Tom Memorial park in Chicago's China Town.)

Bridge up

Bridge down

Illustration 4: The Waddell Vertical Lift Bridge (drawing taken from the Waddell's 1893 patent)
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Bridge “Rocker”

Track

Illustration 5: The Scherzer Rolling Lift Bridge (drawings taken from the William Scherzer's
1893 patent)

Of these three concepts, the most promising was the rolling lift bascule bridge
(Illustration 5). This concept best met all of the design criteria - simple operation, easy
to build, and low construction cost. The rolling lift bridge opens by rotating vertically
on the river bank. A large counterweight on the shore end of the bridge aids the lifting
process as the bridge leaf rotates upward. The bridge is not tied to a single rotation
point, so the center of gravity of the leaf rolls back over a distance of twenty to thirty
feet on track girders. This amount of movement means that the foundation has to be
designed over an area large enough to handle the weight of the rotating leaf.
While the rolling lift bridge was the superior bridge design of the three bridge types
examined in the 1890's, John Ericson (Chicago City Engineer) was convinced that the
rolling lift bridge was an unsatisfactory solution to the city's bridge problems.
Two technical issues emerged from the city's experience with the early rolling lift
bridges. The first involved the relatively fast degradation of the track girders. This
degradation meant that the city faced a long-term, high-cost maintenance item on these
bridges. The second issue was in the bridge foundation. The early foundations did not
adequately support the bridge through the full range of movement of the bridge leaf.
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Proper foundation design would increase the initial cost of the bridge, partially erasing
its low-cost advantage.
The most serious problem with the rolling lift bridge, however, was the fact that it
was patented. Each time one of these bridges were built, the Scherzer Rolling Lift
Bridge Company received a royalty. These royalty fees were a hardship on a cash-
strapped city budget.
In 1899, Ericson's engineers performed a literature review of bridge designs used in
the U.S. and Europe. The goal was to find a bridge design that would satisfy the design
criteria and not have the added cost of royalty fees.

Rack

Counterweight
Trunnion

Pinion

Tail Pit

Illustration 6: Fixed Trunnion Bascule Bridge (drawing from von Babo's 1911 patent)

Chicago engineers adapted the concepts of the 1894 Tower Bridge of London to their
situation. The Tower Bridge was a fixed trunnion bascule bridge. It was considered a
better option for Chicago because, it was simple to operate, the foundation design was
less complicated (when compared to a rolling lift bridge), and it was patent free.
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The Chicago-Type fixed trunnion bascule bridge (Illustration 6), as this design is
now known, operates in a manner similar to the rolling lift bridge. The major
differences between this design and the rolling lift design are that the fixed trunnion
bridge rotates about axles (trunnions) rather than rolling over an area and a rack and
pinion gearing system is employed to raise and lower the bridge (instead of a track for
the bridge to roll on).
This is the underlying design of all of the downtown bascule bridges. As with any
design, modifications and improvements were made along the way. Now, let's talk about
some of the other names on the bridge plaques and their contribution to the Loop bridges
built from 1913 to 1930.
The Engineers
John Ernst Ericson was born in Stockholm, Sweden on October 21, 1858. He
received his training in civil engineering from the Royal Polytechnic Institute in
Stockholm in 1880 and immigrated to the United States in 1881.
He worked in several areas of civil engineering before becoming the Chicago city
engineer in 1897, where he served for all but four years from 1897-1927. He was the
driving force behind the work that identified, implemented, and refined the fixed
trunnion bridge as the best design for Chicago's movable bridges. His name appears on
bridge plaques at W. Lake St., N. Franklin-Orleans St., N. Wells St., and W. Madison St.
Alexander F. von Babo was born on May 27, 1854 in Heidelberg, Germany and he
immigrated to the United States in 1886. Mr. von Babo was a part of the group of
engineers that selected the fixed trunnion bascule bridge as “Chicago's bridge” in 1900.
Although he worked directly on the W. Washington Blvd. bridge and his name appears
on the bridge plaque on the W. Lake St. bridge, the impact of his patented design
innovation is much wider than his connection to specific bridges. This patent (No.
1,001,800, August 29, 1911) was significant because it moved the rack from the outside
of the bridge trusses to the inside. Illustration 6 shows von Babo's patent drawings of
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the original Chicago-type bridge configuration (right hand side) and von Babo's
innovation (left hand side). This innovation paved the way for the use of more attractive
and varied trusses on bridges built between 1913 and 1930.

Rack

Pinion

Illustration 7: Alexander von Babo's Major Contribution to the Chicago Type Bascule Bridge (drawing
taken from the 1911 patent)

Thomas G. Pihlfeldt was born on October 11, 1858 in Vadso, Norway. He received
his engineering training in Germany and immigrated to the United States on August 25,
1879. His first jobs in the Chicago area were as a draftsman in different engineering
firms. In 1889 he began work for the Chicago Bureau of Maps. Pihlfeldt transferred to
the Division of Bridges in 1894. He became an Assistant Engineer of Bridges in 1896
and was promoted to Engineer of Bridges in 1901. He was awarded the Order of St.
Olaf by the King of Norway in 1932. He worked in the bridge division until his death
on January 23, 1941.
Probably his most innovative work came in the replacement of the double deck
center pier swing bridges at West Lake and North Wells streets. Both bridges carried a
large volume of train traffic on their upper deck. It was important to the economy of the
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city that this train traffic not be interrupted for an inordinate period of time. His solution
was to maintain train traffic on the elevated tracks on the old swing bridge while the
bascule bridge leaves were constructed in the vertical position. When the bascule bridge
was completed, the old swing bridge was rotated open, cut up and removed via the river
and the bascule bridge was lowered. The decking on the upper deck was then installed.
On his first try at the W. Lake Street bridge, traffic was interrupted for seven days. On
his second try at N. Wells, the break in train service was only three days.
Mr. Pihlfeldt's long service in the bridge division is confirmed by the number of
bridge plaques around the city that bear his name. Of the bridges along Wacker Drive,
his name is found on ten plaques (W. Washington; W. Lake; N. Michigan; N. Franklin-
Orleans; N. Wells; W. Madison; W. Adams; N. La Salle; N. Clark; and N. Wabash).
Hugh E Young was associated with nine of the bridges built between 1913 and 1930
(W. Lake, W. Monroe, N. Franklin-Orleans, N. Michigan, W. Madison, N. Wells, N. La
Salle, N. Clark, and N. Wabash). His first association with a bridge along Wacker Drive
was in 1916 when the bridge at West Lake Street was built. He worked for the city
bridge division and the Chicago Plan Commission during his career.
His most innovative work was on the design of the W. Monroe St bridge. This site
was complicated in two respects. First, the railroad tracks on the west side of the river
interfered with the “normal” location of the tail pit. Secondly, tunnels running under
Monroe St. on both sides of the river that complicated the foundation design.
The railroad issue was addressed by using a different design approach on each of the
bridge leaves. On the railroad (west) side of the bridge, a shorter counterweight arm and
a cast iron counter weight was used to avoid the conflict with the railroad tracks. The
east leaf was built more “conventionally” with a longer counter weight arm and a
concrete counterweight. Illustration 8 shows the asymmetry in the two leaves. The west
leaf is on the right-hand side. This design solution allowed this bridge to maintain the
architectural goals of The Plan – a major requirement in this era.
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Foundation issues were handled through the use of sub piers that reached a depth of
117 ft which was deeper than most sub piers of the bridges in the area. The asymmetry
in the design of the superstructure was mirrored in the foundation design.

Illustration 8: A view looking south at the W Monroe St Bridge

Donald N. Becker was born in Ithaca, NY on March 25, 1888. He received his
engineering degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1908. His early career
included time as an instructor at Rensselaer and as a draftsman in Chicago engineering
firms. He joined the Chicago Bridge Engineering Department in 1912 and worked there
until 1943.
His most significant contribution to the Chicago bridge story was his paper entitled
“Development of the Chicago Type Bridge” published in the February 1943 Proceedings
of the American Society of Civil Engineers. This well-written history is a valuable
resource. Mr. Becker's name appears on bridge plaques on the W. Adams, N. La Salle,
N. Clark, and N. Wabash street bridges.
Conclusion
Any project of size has many people involved in its design and execution. These
bridges are no different. The engineers discussed here were responsible for some
innovative features and improvements that may not be as visible as the architectural
features, but were just as important. So the next time you look at one of the Chicago
Loop bridges, remember that there is more than meets the eye.
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References
Engineering Biographical Data

● Bjork, Kenneth, Saga in Steel and Concrete: Norwegian Engineers in America, pp120-130
(Pihfeldt), Norwegian-American Historical Association, 1947
(http://newsarch.rootsweb.com/th/read/NORWAY/2003-04/1050683732).
● Leonard, John William and Marquis, Albert Nelson, The book of Chicagoans : a

biographical dictionary of leading living men of the city of Chicago, (Ericson), A.N.

Marquis, 1905-1917, 1911.

● Weingardt, Richard G., Engineering Legends: Great American Civil Engineers 32 Profiles

of Inspiration and Achievement, pp 63-66 (Waddell), ASCE, 2005.

● ___________, Who's Who in Chicago, (Pihlfeldt), A.N. Marquis & Co., 1926

● ____________, Who's Who in Chicago, (Becker), A.N. Marquis & Co., 1945.

Bridge Patents

● Harman, W, Bridge, Patent No. 383,880, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, June 5, 1888.

● Scherzer, W. (Dec'd – A. H. Scherzer, Administrator), Lift Bridge, Patent No. 511,713, U.S.

Patent and Trademark Office, December 26, 2893.

● Scherzer, A. H. and Kandeler, C. F. T., Bascule Bridge, Patent No. 721,918, U.S. Patent and

Trademark Office, March 3, 1903

● Strauss, J. B., Bridge, Patent No. 995,813, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, June 20, 1911

● Von Babo, A. F. L., Trunnion Bascule Bridge, Patent No. 1,001,800, U.S. Patent and

Trademark Office, August 29, 1911.

● Waddell, J. A. L., Lift Bridge, Patent No. 506,571, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, October

10, 1893.
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Bridge History

● Becker, D. N., Development of the Chicago Type Bascule Bridge, American Society of Civil

Engineers Transactions, Paper No. 2226, February 1943.

● Christensen, D., Editor, Chicago Public Works: A History Chicago, Rand McNally &

Company, 1973.

● Cleary, R. L., Bridges, W.W. Norton & Company, ISBN0-393-73136-7, 2007.

● Department of Public Works, Bureau of Engineering, The Movable Bridges of Chicago, A

Brief History, City of Chicago, 1983.

● Hess, J. A., Chicago River Bascule Bridges Development of Movable Bridge Technology in
Chicago, 1890-1910, Historic American Engineering Record Library of Congress, HAER No.
IL-111, 1999, http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/habs_haer/.
● Pihlfeldt, T. G., “Bridges,” Civil Service News, Pictorial Story of Chicago's Public Works,

Engineering Wonders of the World Featuring Chicago's Charter Jubilee 1837-1937, 1937.

● Scott, C.; Alexander, F.; Nicolay, J., Chicago River Bascule Bridge, Clark Street, Historic

American Engineering Record Library of Congress, HAER No. IL-64, 1986,

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/habs_haer/.

● Scott, C.; Alexander, F.; Nicolay, J., Chicago River Bascule Bridge, West Adams Street,

Historic American Engineering Record Library of Congress, HAER No. IL-51, 1986,

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/habs_haer/.

● Scott, C.; Alexander, F.; Nicolay, J., Chicago River Bascule Bridge, Jackson Boulevard,

Historic American Engineering Record Library of Congress, HAER No. IL-55, 1986

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/habs_haer/.
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● Scott, C.; Alexander, F.; Nicolay, J., Chicago River Bascule Bridge, La Salle Street,

Historic American Engineering Record Library of Congress, HAER No. IL-66, 1986,

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/habs_haer/.

● Scott, C.; Alexander, F.; Nicolay, J., Chicago River Bascule Bridge, Michigan Avenue,

Historic American Engineering Record Library of Congress, HAER No. IL-37, 1986,

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/habs_haer/.

● Scott, C.; Alexander, F.; Nicolay, J., Fitzsimons, G; Brucken, C., Chicago River Bascule

Bridge, Washington Street, Historic American Engineering Record Library of Congress,

HAER No. IL-38, 1992, http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/habs_haer/ .

● Sneddon, M. T., Chicago River Bascule Bridge, Wabash Avenue, Historic American

Engineering Record Library of Congress, HAER No. IL-48, June 1999,

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/habs_haer/.

● Sneddon, M. T., Chicago River Bascule Bridge, Wells Street Bridge, Historic American

Engineering Record Library of Congress, HAER No. IL-52, 1999,

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/habs_haer/.

● Sneddon, M. T., Chicago River Bascule Bridge, Monroe Street, Historic American

Engineering Record Library of Congress, HAER No. IL-53, June 1999,

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/habs_haer/.

● Sneddon, M. T., Chicago River Bascule Bridge, Franklin-Orleans Street, Historic American

Engineering Record Library of Congress, HAER No. IL-65, June 1999,

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/habs_haer/.