Airtight Bridge

Airtight Bridge

Eastern portal
Nearest city Charleston, IL
Coordinates 39°32′56.75″N 88°5′35.75″W / 39.5490972°N 88.0932639°W / 39.5490972; -88.0932639Coordinates: 39°32′56.75″N 88°5′35.75″W / 39.5490972°N 88.0932639°W / 39.5490972; -88.0932639
Built 1914
Architect Claude L. James
MPS Coles County Highway Bridges Over the Embarras River TR
NRHP Reference # 81000211 [1]
Added to NRHP November 30, 1981
Airtight Bridge
Coordinates 39°33′18″N 88°05′22″W / 39.55500°N 88.08944°W / 39.55500; -88.08944
Carries Township road 275
Crosses Embarras River
Locale 8 miles NE of Charleston, Illinois
ID number 3165
Characteristics
Design Pratt through truss
Total length 188 feet 4 inches
Width 15 feet 7 inches
Clearance above 13 feet 7 inches
History
Opened 1914

The Airtight Bridge is a steel bridge spanning the Embarras River in Coles County, Illinois, in the United States 8 miles (13 km) north of Charleston, Illinois. The bridge is a Pratt through truss bridge with a steel structure, a wooden deck, and concrete piers. The bridge was built in 1914 by the Decatur Bridge Company and designed by engineer Claude L. James.[2] It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1981.[1] It reportedly got its name from the unnatural stillness encountered when crossing it.

In 1980, a dismembered corpse was found on the east bank of the river 30 yards downstream from the bridge, causing quite a stir in the local media. Police investigated for years, but were unable to determine the identity of the victim until 1992, when DNA testing produced a match to a missing person from Kankakee, Illinois. The murder is now in the cold case file of the Illinois State Police.[3]

Notes

  1. 1 2 National Park Service (2007-01-23). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. "Bridge Inventory Form: Airtight Bridge" (PDF). Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. Retrieved December 18, 2013.
  3. Clark, Bonnie (December 5, 2008). "Airtight Bridge murder victim honored by daughter who barely knew her". Journal Gazette & Times-Courier. Retrieved December 18, 2013.

External links


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