The Past
6
thePeorian.com
SPANNING HISTORY
The Bridges of Central Illinois
by Dr. Peter Couri
C
ivic pride was high on
April 11, 1909. Peoria’s
massive new reinforced
concrete arch bridge over
the Illinois River was being
dedicated. It took three years to
construct at a cost of $222,088.
The old 1848 wooden bridge,
nicknamed “Old Tooth Picks” for
its dilapidated and frightening
condition, had two sections that
had been swept away in a flood.
A new bridge was a necessity.
A few weeks later, the night
was dark and clear. It was May
1, 1909
at 5:50 a.m. The Illinois
River was flowing high, quiet
and black. Jim Finley, the night
watchman on Peoria’s new
concrete bridge, and his partner
reported very light traffic that
night, both horse and boat.
Suddenly there was a
deafening rumbling noise, as if
something had hit the center pier
of the bridge. Both rushed to the
door of the watch tower.
Jim Finley wrote, “As we
stepped out, we were just in
time to see the first arch from the
drawbridge on the south side of
the big channel pier rise into the
air and crash into the river. There
was a creaking and splintering
sound of steel, as the ribs of the
arch snapped off like matchwood.
The arch raised a fearful height
into the air and then toppled
over. One after another of the
arches took the same course, just
like cards standing on end and
pushed over.”
At the time of the accident,
there was no traffic on the bridge
and luckily no casualties.
The new bridge was built with
five concrete-and-steel arches
with one rolling lift span to
allow boat traffic to pass. The
total length was 1,124 feet. The
roadway was 25 feet in width
with two 5-foot-wide sidewalks
on either side. The five arches
supported six spans of 125 feet
with longitudinal arch ribs
spaced with transverse bars
tightly woven in them.
This photo and the one below show the final stages of construction of what was considered a new and modern bridge when
it was erected and opened in April, 1909. On the opposite show the same bridge after it collapsed just three weeks later.
