4th Street Bridge (Racine, Wisconsin): Difference between revisions
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==History==
The first bridge to cross the Root River at 4th Street was a fixed {{w|pile bridge}} constructed by Sidney and Stephen Sage in 1844, which was known as "Sage's Bridge". The bridge's construction was authorized by act of the state legislature on January 20, 1844. Because it was a low-lying pile bridge, it became the Root River's {{w|head of navigation}}. While originally a private structure, the bridge was extensively repaired by a city-owned dredge boat between 1849 and 1853, requiring part of the bridge to be briefly removed so the dredge could access the south side of the structure. In November 1856, the city of Racine hired [[Harper & Tweeddale]] of [[Chicago, Illinois|Chicago]] to replace Sage's Bridge and the [[State Street Bridge (Racine, Wisconsin)|"Red Bridge" at State and 2nd streets]] with two new nearly-identical wooden-truss swing bridges which were built in 1857.<ref name=story-1922-pt1>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/58065180/the-journal-times/ "Story of the Bridges Across Root River"], [[Racine Journal-News]], February 4, 1922, page 3.</ref> The new bridge at 4th Street was {{convert|135|ft|m}} long and {{convert|27|ft|m}} wide.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=QCNJAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA458 ''The History of Racine and Kenosha Counties, Wisconsin''], 1879, p. 458.</ref>
A committee organized by the city council in 1877 found the bridge to be "in very unsafe condition" and recommended that it be repaired immediately, predicting that it would cost $2,700 to make the bridge usable for three or four more years. The council decided to have the bridge completely replaced instead,<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/58065298/racine-journal/ "The Council; A Special Meeting on Bridges"], [[Racine Journal]], September 26, 1877, page 3.</ref> and [[F. S. Illsley and Company]] was contracted to build a new steel bridge for $6,647.87. Since the bridge also crossed the [[Western Union Railroad]] tracks that followed the east bank of the river, the railroad paid for the new bridge to be built higher than the old one, since the old bridge was so low that it had posed a hazard to railroad employees.<ref name=story-1922-pt1/> The new bridge was finished in March 1878.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/58093794/racine-journal/ "City Brevities"], [[Racine Journal]], March 6, 1878, page three.</ref><ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/58093929/racine-journal/ "City Brevities"], [[Racine Journal]], March 13, 1878, page 3.</ref>
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