June 15, 1931 – The American Institute of Steel
Construction selects the new Wabash Avenue Bridge as the most beautiful span
costing more than one million dollars constructed in the United States or
Canada during 1930. The jury observed
that the bridge over the Chicago River was “a most pleasing solution of a most
difficult bridge design problem.” [Chicago Tribune, June 16, 1931] City Bridge Engineer Thomas G. Pihfeldt drew
the plans for the bridge, which was fabricated by the Ketler Elliott Company and cost $1,750,000 to build. Because the bridge is adjacent to a bend in
the river, the government refused to allow the pits for the counterweight and
trunnion to intrude on the river beyond the dock lines. As a result the bridge was placed diagonally
to Wabash Avenue, complicating the planning for the structure. This is the first bridge ever to be built at
this location. It helps to relieve the
traffic burden placed on Michigan Avenue, and it connects Wabash Avenue south
of the river to Cass Street on the north side of the river. Today Cass Street is called Wabash Avenue as
well.
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