Yesterday I decided to take a chance and row my trusty Explorer 200 inflatable raft across the Milwaukee River to attempt to climb the largest railroad swing bridge in Milwaukee in broad daylight. Helpfully, it was also abandoned- and despite being seen by countless passing boaters, not one of them cared enough to say anything to anyone about it. Human apathy truly is a wonderful thing.
Milwaukee River Swing Bridge #1556 was built to serve the long-demolished Chicago and Northwestern railroad depot, and was crossed by up to a hundred trains per day at it's peak usage. Measuring at 243 feet long by 32 feet wide and weighing in at 800 tons, this double warren overhead truss type bridge was the largest swing bridge ever built in Milwaukee.
The river currents and gusts of wind made reaching the bridge tricky in a rudderless rubber boat- especially while playing Frogger with passing pleasure cruises. Despite those challenges I was eventually able to reach the base of the bridge itself. From there it was easy to climb all the way to the bridge tender's house atop the superstructure. The wooden flooring was sturdier than it looked too, which was nice.
Described as a "technical marvel for it's era" this bridge was the third swing bridge built on the same spot. The first and second bridges, built in the 1870's and 1890's respectively, were both too small to accommodate the increased traffic and heavier trains of the twentieth century. In order to minimize the disruption to railroad traffic, the old 1890's bridge was floated off its foundation and moved 60 feet down river where rails were built to reroute trains until the new bridge could be completed. In a feat documented by the Engineering News publication this task was completed with only five hours of disruption to rail traffic.
The remnants of the main tracks that served the current swing bridge can still be seen to one side of the river, next to a large abandoned grain elevator that I was prevented from exploring by an old man who insisted upon sitting outside the PoE and blowing his air horn at passing boaters who violated the "No Wake" rule. An adventure for another day, I suppose.
The use of this swing bridge sharply declined after the depot across the river was demolished in 1968, though it still saw sporadic use until the last train crossed it in 2006.
Climbing bridges is good, and climbing abandoned bridges is better, but doing so freely in daylight for good photography lighting is the best. The Third Ward has no shortage of abandonments to explore and I intend to see as many as I can, but that's a post for another day. Until next time.
