Posts tagged construction

Lunch break during construction of 1000 N Lake Shore Drive, 1965, Chicago.

Beginning construction on the Lake St. ‘L’, Lake St and Milwaukee Ave, 1889, Chicago

The Lake St. ‘L’ would not start operations until 1893

Greg Borzo Collection

Randolph Street Bridge construction, 1903, Chicago.

via Chicago Magazine

‘L’ construction at Madison and Market, 1893, Chicago.

Digging out Jackson Park in 1891 to create the Grand Basin for the Columbian Exposition of 1893, Chicago. Photo is looking east.

Construction of the Calumet Skyway (now called the Chicago Skyway), 1957, Chicago.

Construction of the Dan Ryan at Archer Ave, 1964, Chicago. Art Sinsabaugh.

Construction of the First Regiment Armory, 1552 S Michigan Ave, 1892, Chicago.

I have found that pre-1900 construction sites often look like demolitions in progress.

The Hancock Tower under construction, 1968, Chicago. Ezra Stoller

Sears Tower construction, 1972, Rene Burri

Cross section view of the substructure below the Marshall Field store on State Street, 1900, Chicago.

Important notes are the Caisson wells, which are the standard for most large scale architecture in Chicago and the “subway” (referenced in several past posts), a series of tunnels beneath the Loop formerly used for transportation of cargo, mail, etc…The tunnels were Chicago’s answer to New York’s subway system, meant to alleviate commercial traffic on surface streets.

Constructing tubes to be installed for the new subway, 1939, Chicago.

A Chicago Sanitation District worker meeting a drill from the other side of a tunnel being constructed to help keep the city from flooding, 1980, Chicago.

Constructing the twin steel tube section of the La Salle Street tunnel, which would run below the Chicago River, 1911, Chicago.

Rebuilding the city after the fire, corner of Lake and LaSalle, 1873, Chicago.