22-Jul-14 – Looking beat but remarkably undestroyed, a construction barge that sank in the Chicago River on July 10 was brought back to the surface on Monday.

By pumping air in and water out, a salvage crew from Global Infrastructure recovered the barge at about 6:50 p.m. It had been underwater for eleven days.

The barge was helping to expand the Chicago Riverwalk when it took on water and slowly started to sink at around 4 a.m. on July 10 just east of the LaSalle Street Bridge. There were no injuries.

The Chicago Department of Transportation would not comment on what was on the barge when it sank but every barge is used to support heavy equipment.

It turned out to be a telescopic boom lift made by JLG Industries, Inc., a model 600S to be exact. It weighed 21,800 pounds, had a 40-gallon fuel tank, and was a total loss. A brand new 600S costs about $104,000 although a used 2008 model can be purchased for closer to $44,000.

(Above) A new JLG telescopic boom lift model 600S. (Right) The damaged lift as it emerged from the Chicago River on July 16.

On July 16, the boom lift was recovered. Working in an area in the southeast corner of the bridge, a diver attached two cables to the lift, which a crane then used to hoist it out of the water. Caked in mud and oozing oil, the lift emerged basket-first at 4:45 p.m. and was carried by the crane over to a barge used to haul construction material.

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and United States Coast Guard, both of which had personnel on site to monitor recovery of the boom lift, approved a salvage plan prepared by Walsh Construction. According to Margaret Frisbie, executive director of Friends of the Chicago River, neither of these organizations voiced any concerns about the recovery. (Left) From the Terrace Lounge at OneEleven last Friday, a brown discoloration of the Chicago River is seen in the area of the sunken barge.

No bridge lifts scheduled for time being The State Street Bridge was opened to traffic last Thursday – four days early, according to a schedule released by the Chicago Department of Transportation on July 10. CDOT will not comment on why that work finished early. Over the next week, workers will install a caisson on the west side of the Clark Street Bridge. They will continue pumping water out of the space between the existing Riverwalk and the new steel sheet pile that forms the new river wall, then back-fill the space with crushed stones. They will also work with forms in which concrete will be poured to cap the river wall, install “walers” to hold the wall in place, and install new drainage structures. (Right) A caisson is installed underneath the raised State Street Bridge on July 14.