Airtight Bridge

Airtight Bridge
Airtight Bridge
Coordinates	39°33′18″N 88°05′22″W / 39.55500°N 88.08944°W
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
Location

	Airtight Bridge
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
	Eastern portal
Nearest city	Charleston, IL
Coordinates	39°33′18″N 88°05′22″W / 39.55500°N 88.08944°W
Built	1914
Architect	Claude L. James
MPS	Coles County Highway Bridges Over the Embarras River TR
NRHP reference No.	81000211
Added to NRHP	November 30, 1981

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, leading to significant local press attention. 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. Once a cold case investigated by the Illinois State Police, the victim's husband was charged with the murder on March 2, 2017.^[3]

Notes

^ ^a ^b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
^ "Bridge Inventory Form: Airtight Bridge" (PDF). Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. Retrieved December 18, 2013.
^ 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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[nris-1] "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.

[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.

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