# Current use of the Chicago river & Movable Bridges **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 14, 2014, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-use-of-the-chicago-river-movable-bridges/695545 "2014-08-14T21:17:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-use-of-the-chicago-river-movable-bridges/695545/1 "2014-08-14T21:17:30Z")
Is there any practical reason to use the Chicago River and the raising bridges? Does commercial traffic still use the river? It seems to be mainly recreational. I understand that > [@](#): > > [The Chicago River is considered a navigable waterway. As such, the federal government requires that there be no barriers (including bridge leaves) to waterborne traffic](http://chicagoloopbridges.com/FAQS12.html) but honestly where is there to go on the south branch anyway? The Mississippi? Are lots of boat owners from Chicago really traveling to the Gulf of Mexico just for fun? ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-use-of-the-chicago-river-movable-bridges/695545/2 "2014-08-14T21:29:55Z")
I’ve seen the bridges along the Chicago river raised frequently for larger craft. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-use-of-the-chicago-river-movable-bridges/695545/3 "2014-08-14T21:51:22Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > but honestly where is there to go on the south branch anyway? The Mississippi? Yes, of course. That’s the point of the Sanitary & Shipping Canal. When I worked on a high floor downtown, I would see many, many barges heading south on the Chicago River. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Little\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Pig)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-use-of-the-chicago-river-movable-bridges/695545/4 "2014-08-15T01:13:56Z")
When I was very small I remember the Chicago River (all branches) was used _a lot_ for barge traffic. You see all those old buildings today along the river that are condos? They used to be printing houses, chocolate factories, manufacturing centers for all types of widgets. [Finkl & Son,](http://www.finkl.com/locations.aspx) which had some fairly impressive open die forgings, was at Southport and Clybourn. Practically all bulk raw materials came in by barge, the rest by railroad. I remember seeing ore ships on Lake Michigan heading towards [Port of Chicago](http://iipd.com/) down around 95th Street which is still in use. There is barge traffic along the South Branch but unless you hang out there, you’re probably not going to see it. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-use-of-the-chicago-river-movable-bridges/695545/5 "2014-08-15T01:17:25Z")
I guess it must be bias confirmation n my part. All I ever recall seeing are pleasure craft and sightseeing boats. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Little\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Pig)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-use-of-the-chicago-river-movable-bridges/695545/6 "2014-08-15T02:00:21Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > I guess it must be bias confirmation n my part. All I ever recall seeing are pleasure craft and sightseeing boats. There really is no reason for a barge to be tugged up the main and north branches. All the manufacturing is gone. Fifty years ago, Chicago was a much different city. Maybe some olde timers can chime in. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-use-of-the-chicago-river-movable-bridges/695545/7 "2014-08-15T02:20:32Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > I guess it must be bias confirmation n my part. All I ever recall seeing are pleasure craft and sightseeing boats. This is undated but [it looks fairly recent.](http://azb.com/barge-lookout-on-the-chicago-river/) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Little\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Pig)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-use-of-the-chicago-river-movable-bridges/695545/8 "2014-08-15T03:14:05Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > This is undated but [it looks fairly recent.](http://azb.com/barge-lookout-on-the-chicago-river/) Looks like they’re hauling gravel loaded somewhere on the South Branch. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-use-of-the-chicago-river-movable-bridges/695545/9 "2014-08-15T03:49:20Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > Are lots of boat owners from Chicago really traveling to the Gulf of Mexico just for fun? For recreational boaters, there are some docks along the South Branch. I know there’s one on Canal, just to the east of Lawrence Fisheries, as one of my acquaintances would winter his boat there and bring it up to Belmont Harbor in the spring. I’ve made the journey with him once, and there was a whole flotilla of folks making their way up. It was actually a pretty cool trip. I can’t remember how many bridges we went under, but it was well over a dozen–perhaps even close to two dozen, and it was fascinating seeing all the different ways they were raised. I had no idea, as living in Chicago for more than three decades, I’ve only been stopped by a raised bridge once or twice. (But, yes, I’ve also seen barge traffic along that waterway.) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Little\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Pig)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-use-of-the-chicago-river-movable-bridges/695545/10 "2014-08-15T07:46:42Z")
I used to live in the west [Corn Cob tower](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marina_City) along Dearborn facing the river, up on the 22nd floor. In the spring, starting on a Saturday, the flotillas would work their way up the main branch of the river, moving towards the locks to get to the lake. What racket! Clang Clang Clang of the bridge bell as the bridge would go up, the boats would pass by, the bridge would come down. Clang Clang Clang all the while. Then the bride keeper would move a block down to the next bridge and it would start all over. From Kinzie St. to Michigan Ave. Then the next flotilla would start coming up the main branch. This would go on for a week and be repeated in the fall as the boats were coming in to be stored for the winter. Drove me freak’in nuts. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-use-of-the-chicago-river-movable-bridges/695545/11 "2014-08-15T14:57:16Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > This is undated but [it looks fairly recent.](http://azb.com/barge-lookout-on-the-chicago-river/) You also get [construction barges](https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8417/10248829883_992ba76cc3_z.jpg) on the river since that’s the only way to stage a crane on the river-side of a building when all those fancy condos and office buildings are going up. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2014, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-use-of-the-chicago-river-movable-bridges/695545/12 "2014-08-16T04:30:13Z")
There’s very little commercial traffic on the downtown parts of the river nowadays; the Cermak and Kinzie bridges have both been rebuilt at a level where the towboats pushing the gravel barges no longer need to wait for a lift. The lifts nowadays are almost entirely for pleasure sailboats, which for their own convenience are usually organized into flotillas during one of the [semiweekly scheduled lifts](http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/cdot/provdrs/bridge/news/2014/apr/bridgelifts.html) where bridge crews leapfrog each other to raise each bridge in turn. A lot of the boaters who used to winter at Crowley’s on the South Branch now instead use a boatyard on the Little Calumet, so they no longer have to come through the Chicago River locks. But the downtown rivers are still navigable waterways requiring clearances set by the Coast Guard. The city became obligated to build and operate moveable bridges when it decided to span the waterway at such a low level. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2014, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-use-of-the-chicago-river-movable-bridges/695545/13 "2014-08-16T09:30:00Z")
Bah. Those boats are travelling under motor power not wind power. They should ship their masts. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2014, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-use-of-the-chicago-river-movable-bridges/695545/14 "2014-08-16T11:50:08Z")
Dunno how informative, but there is a [Chicago River webcam.](http://www.livestream.com/chicagoriverwebcam) ---
**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2014, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-use-of-the-chicago-river-movable-bridges/695545/15 "2014-08-16T13:29:31Z")
> [@Mr\_Downtown](#): > > The lifts nowadays are almost entirely for pleasure sailboats, which for their own convenience are usually organized into flotillas during one of the [semiweekly scheduled lifts](http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/cdot/provdrs/bridge/news/2014/apr/bridgelifts.html) where bridge crews leapfrog each other to raise each bridge in turn. Thanks for the link-- I loved watching the video of all the bridges being raised in turn (at high speed). ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2014, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-use-of-the-chicago-river-movable-bridges/695545/16 "2014-08-16T18:18:37Z")
> [@Mr\_Downtown](#): > > The lifts nowadays are almost entirely for pleasure sailboats, which for their own convenience are usually organized into flotillas during one of the [semiweekly scheduled lifts](http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/cdot/provdrs/bridge/news/2014/apr/bridgelifts.html) where bridge crews leapfrog each other to raise each bridge in turn. A lot of the boaters who used to winter at Crowley’s on the South Branch now instead use a boatyard on the Little Calumet, so they no longer have to come through the Chicago River locks. So is it just cheaper to winter your boat down river?