The "Cal" part of the name is obvious enough, as the east end of the channel is at the Calumet River, but the Des Plaines River to the west is no "Sag." It meets that river near a large marshy area named Saganashkee Slough. Now you know.


Ashland Ave. NB, the first bridge west of where the Channel splits from the Little Calumet River. Though bigger than the Great Calumet in Illinois, the Little river quickly becomes much smaller, since it was widening for ship traffic that first embiggened it. This and the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal to the north are the two shortest connections from the Mississippi River system to the Great Lakes. (There are other canals up and down the U.S., but the Atlantic/Gulf of Mexico divide is extremely close to Lake Michigan here.)


A look back south.


Into Blue Island, the closed Division St. bridge, facing south.


Division Street's twin bridge is on Chatham Street, just to the west, and also closed. Probably the same reason behind both closures - too much age and not enough maintenance.


Skipping Western Ave., which has its own page (linked below), this is Francisco Ave. NB, ending with a look east at the railroad bridges between Francisco and Western.


Kedzie Ave. SB, with a look east at Francisco Ave. framing the railroad bridges behind it.


Pulaski Rd. NB, between Kedzie and the IL 83 bridges (see link below). IL 83 shouldn't have to cross the channel at all here, but instead it crosses twice, just to pick up more truss mileage.


Ridgeland Ave. NB, Cook CR W37.


The next three bridges in a row are highways. IL 43 and US 45 have their own pages, but between them lies IL 7, Southwest Highway. These photos are NB in Palos Heights, ending with a look east at a railroad bridge and IL 43 behind it.


104th Ave./Willow Springs Rd. NB, just west of US 45, which can be seen in the last photo. Not seen is the second span of 45, which completely flummoxes me, unless I somehow picked the perfect angle whereby the NB side truss members line up exactly with the SB side.


Back south across the 104th/Willow Springs bridge, ending with a look west along the channel. Part of the IL 83/171 Archer Ave. bridge is visible in the distance.

More Cal-Sag Channel bridges on Western Avenue, IL 50, IL 83, IL 43, and US 45
Back east to more bridges along the Calumet River
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