Clark Street Bridge

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|image=File:Chicago River 2023l.jpg

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|caption=The bridge in 2023

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|carries=Vehicles, pedestrians on Clark Street

|crosses=Chicago River

|locale=Chicago

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|length={{Convert|346|ft|m}}{{cite web |url=http://www.historicbridges.org/truss/clark/index.htm |title=Clark Street Bridge |accessdate=2007-05-28 |publisher=historicbridges.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070816145434/http://www.historicbridges.org/truss/clark/index.htm |archive-date=2007-08-16 |url-status=dead }}

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|complete=1929

|open=1929

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|coordinates= {{coord|41.8875|N|87.6310|W|display=inline,title|type:landmark}}

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The Clark Street Bridge is a bascule bridge that spans the Chicago River in downtown Chicago, connecting the Near North Side with The Loop via Clark Street.

History

File:Chicago River Clark Street Bascule Bridge.jpg

File:Chicago fire views - Clark Street, from Robert N. Dennis collection of stereoscopic views.jpg image of Clark Street after the Great Chicago Fire in 1871]]

The current bridge, which was completed in 1929, is the eighth bridge to span the river at this point.{{cite book|last=McBriarty|first=Patrick T.|title=Chicago River Bridges|year=2013|publisher=University of Illinois Press|location=Urbana, Chicago, and Springfield|isbn=978-0-252-03786-3|pages=86–94}} In 1853 the bridge was struck by a steamer, called the London, and collapsed, blocking traffic on the river. The bridge was dredged and river traffic resumed on September 8, 1853.{{cite news | title = Column 1 | work = Chicago Tribune | pages = 3 | date = 1853-09-09 }} In 1854, the city approved an expenditure of $12,000 to replace the bridge with a pivot bridge.{{cite news | title = Clark Street Bridge | work = Chicago Tribune | pages = 2 | date = 1854-02-11 }} During the Lager Beer Riot in 1855, the bridge was pivoted to help contain the rioters.{{cite news | title = Trail of the Rioters | work = Chicago Tribune | pages = 2 | date = 1855-06-21 }}

On June 26, 1907, the steamer {{SS|Atlas||2}} collided with the south abutment of the bridge and sank. She was declared a total loss.{{cite web |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hb1k9l&view=1up&seq=268 |title=Annual report of the Supervising Inspector-general Steamboat-inspection Service, Year ending June 30, 1908 |publisher=Harvard University |accessdate=23 September 2019}}

The passenger ship {{SS|Eastland}} was scheduled to sail from the dock at the Clark Street Bridge when she capsized on July 24, 1915, killing 844 people.{{cite web | title = Dewey - Addams - Chicago| url = http://inquiry.uiuc.edu/cil/edit_list.php?cilid=343&listid=307 | archive-url = https://archive.today/20120730053731/http://inquiry.uiuc.edu/cil/edit_list.php?cilid=343&listid=307 | url-status = dead | archive-date = 2012-07-30 | accessdate = 2007-03-08}}

In March 2012, an unidentified man jumped from the bridge and was rescued by local high school students on a field trip. He later died of hypothermia.{{citation needed|date=November 2019}}

In popular culture

In 1916, Carl Sandburg wrote the poem "Clark Street Bridge."{{cite book | last = Sandburg | first = Carl | authorlink = Carl Sandburg | title = Chicago Poems | publisher = Henry Holt | year = 1916 | url = https://archive.org/details/chicagopoems00sandgoog}}