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Pilings that caused the Chicago Loop flood 1992 (Chicago, Illinois)

USA / Illinois / Chicago / Chicago, Illinois / West Kinzie Street
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Rehabilitation work on the Kinzie Street bridge crossing the Chicago River required new pilings. Unknown to work crews aboard a barge operated by the Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company, beneath the river was a Chicago Tunnel Company tunnel, used in the early twentieth century to transport coal and goods, and now abandoned. One of the pilings on the east bank was driven into the bottom of the river alongside the north wall of the old tunnel. Although the piling did not actually punch through the tunnel wall, it caused pressure that cracked the wall, and mud began to ooze in. After some weeks, all the soft mud had passed, opening a leak.
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Coordinates:   41°53'20"N   87°38'20"W
This article was last modified 12 years ago