Taking 106 bridge piers down to 52 on the Illinois Tollway’s Central Tri-State/I-294 Mile-Long Bridge meant bringing in the largest California wide-flange concrete beams ever used in Illinois. The Mile-Long Bridge is a crucial piece of infrastructure on the highway. It’s actually two bridges (one northbound, one southbound) that carry commuters and commerce over the Des Plaines River, the Illinois and Michigan Canal, the Sanitary and Ship Canal, a fuel line that goes to O’Hare Airport for refueling of planes, a UPS hub, live catenary wires and railroad tracks. Contractor F.H. Paschen erected a temporary bridge to ensure the safety of all workers and used crane barges to lift into place both steel and concrete bridge beams.

Photos courtesy of F.H. Paschen