The Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) will begin repair and painting work on three movable river bridges this week, which will cause detours around temporary traffic and lane closures.

The bascule bridge at 106th Street over the Calumet River will be closed starting this week for reconstruction of the east and west seawalls, which have deteriorated and in need of major repairs. A storm this summer caused significant damage to the east seawall, allowing river water to flood into the counterweight pit, making the east leaf of the bridge inoperable.

It is a vital bridge in the Calumet River system, lifting nearly 4,000 times annually to provide access to the nearby ports and boat yards to commercial vessels and recreational craft. Local construction and engineering firm F.H. Paschen will perform the necessary repair work.

The project will close the 106th bridge completely to all vehicle and pedestrian traffic through November 17th. All traffic will be detoured north at Ewing Avenue and Torrence Avenue to cross the Calumet River at 100th Street.

The bridge at Loomis Street over the South Branch of the Chicago River will be closed to vehicle traffic over the weekend so that CDOT crews can make structural repairs to two steel floor beams in the movable span.

The closure will be from the evening of Friday, September 5th to the morning of Monday, September 8th. All vehicular traffic will be detoured west to cross the river at Ashland Avenue. The bridge will remain open to pedestrians.

Also starting this week, the bridge at LaSalle Street over the Main Branch of the Chicago River will be repainted, which will include the removal of old paint and rust. The work is expected to conclude by November 9th.

One sidewalk and one traffic lane will regularly be closed for the duration of the painting project, but the bridge will remain open to traffic and pedestrians, except for one weekend full closure, which has yet to be scheduled.

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