On October 16, Don Zinnicker forwarded a question from Jim Dudlicek,
Editor of the Naperville Sun, about the Ogden Avenue Underpass. I
forwarded it to the BNSF Bridge Engineer for a response, and
evidently he also got an inquiry directly from the Naperville Sun.
Today I got a copy of the answer that BNSF furnished to the
Naperville Sun. Here is most of what it said:
(The bridge is Br. 30.52 which contains a skewed and tapered Deck
Plate Girder span fabricated specially to fit the alignment and
clearance dictated by the highway. The bridge was built by CB&Q in
1934-35.)
Most of this makes sense since the span (44') is too short to be a
turntable. The date is a little suspect, as I recall looking up the
same bridge plans a number of years ago while researching the
construction of the 4th track Downers Grove to Eola. My notes
indicate 1933. The bridge is 4 track, so it was definitely built
during the time that the 4th track existed between 1930 and 1934.
Glen Haug
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