Behold - - World's only all concrete bridge - - circa 1913

This engineering marvel was constructed on the banks of the Little Calumet River located at the fringes of the city's southern boundary. This unique structure helped Hohman Avenue span the river at this point. The idea of an all concrete bridge was never before attempted, and was the work of a young engineer named James Green. Mr. Green worked for the Green Construction Company of East Chicago, Indiana, the general contractor for the project.

The causeway was not simply just an experiment, but a methodically well thought out design. Green was a well educated engineer, with several college degrees and diplomas from Ann Arbor and Cornell Universities. Some 15,000 barrels of concrete were used in the building of the span. In order to protect the roadbed, a layer of rubberized asphalt was laid to serve as the roadway for the bridge.

The cost to the taxpayers of Lake County was some $40,000 to $45,000 to build, these figures include both the cost of the bridge and both approach roads. The bridge was both functional as well architecturally pleasing to the eye. Construction of the bridge began to 1913 and was completed in early 1914.

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Source information from The Times Newspapers located at the Hammond Public Library.
Photograph from the Calumet Room / Hammond Historical Society
Twentieth Century Time Capsule © 1999 HammondIndiana.com

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