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Hammond - Depression to Economic Boom (1930 - 1960)

By mid 1930's a new Hammond City Hall was built, a new water filtration plant opened, the Nine-Span Bridge over Gibson Yards opened and the Hammond Civic Center was built. _______________________________

The Indiana Department of Transportation may reverse a decision to close the huge steel Nine-Span Bridge for rehabilitation work and let it wait until short-term measures are in place to deal with the Cline Avenue overflow.

Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. told members of the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission that INDOT planned to close the Nine-Span Bridge soon for about a month for testing and rehabilitation work.

Falling chunks of concrete

INDOT now plans to seal the bridge's deck to keep water from leaking beneath it and further damaging the bridge.  Chunks of the concrete deck have fallen away, opening to the weather the bridge's structural elements.

A leaky bridge deck there led to corrosion of critical structural cables embedded in the concrete.  The ramps at the Borman will be sealed with a special waterproof, 3/8th-inch epoxy/stone mixture, according to INDOT.

Nine-Span Bridge a Historic Landmark

The hulking, rusty Nine-Span Bridge on Indianapolis Boulevard, which at that point is the route for Ind. 152, has been handling increased traffic since the Cline Avenue closure.

The 1.2-mile Cline Avenue Bridge was first closed Nov. 13 after inspectors raised questions about its safety.  In December, INDOT announced the bridge would be closed permanently and demolished.The Nine-Span Bridge handles an average of 27,530 vehicles per day.

“Functionally Obsolete”

The Nine-Span Bridge was built in 1935 and already has been designated as "functionally obsolete" by INDOT, which means it no longer meets state design standards.  The bridge underwent several repairs in 1999 and 2000.  Among those repairs were the replacement of floor beam connector plates and repairs to the bridge's concrete columns.  At that time, traffic lanes on the bridge were reduced to just two from four, and permitted superload trucks were banned.

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“This extremely long bridge has a length comparable to Ohio River bridges (Market Street Bridge).  It is also a wide truss bridge, apparently originally a four-lane structure.  Today it has two lanes, a bike lane on the east side, and a small shoulder on the west side.

This bridge does not achieve its long length via some complex cantilever span, but instead utilizes many classic Parker through truss spans instead.  They feature riveted connections.  The railings on the bridge appear to be original.  There is extensive v-lacing and lattice present on the bridge, although some members feature battens instead.

The bridge is composed of nine spans of varying size

Although the spans at each end of the bridge appear normal, the remaining seven spans in between have a skew to them that resulted in some bizarre cooked portal designs that give this bridge a distinctive appearance.  The result is a bridge whose skewed spans are individually interesting, but combined form a bridge that is both unusual, and is an also a monumental-sized landmark for Hammond.

This bridge can be seen from the Indiana Tollway as you head toward Illinois, sweeping across the rail yard. Much of the rail yard appears to be abandoned today.  The bridge is so long, and has a slight curve to the deck, that you cannot see the other end of the bridge when you first start to cross it.   The bridge is a thrill to walk or drive across.”    Historic Bridges.org

Maudy and Gabby interviewing at the front counter of Woodland Village Mobile Home Park.

   If the right person, asks the right question, at the right time, the story will just flow. Deborah lays out who she is for Gabby and Maudy - three time cancer survivor. Struggling mom of an adult daughter. Mother of a daughter who has also fought through adversity.

Episode 3 of It takes the Village.

   Volunteers Gabby, Maudy, John and Kelly taking notes between gathering stories, at the front counter of Woodland Village Mobile Home Park in Portage.

   John moved to Woodland Village in 1998 after a rough series of events. He lives on the basics and he's working slowly on his GED. Some residents are retired. For others, the mobile home park is a stop on the way to somewhere else. John seems to be almost on hold. We hear his story (recorded by Maudy). Jesse and Steve talk to the owner Joe live about the John's in his park. 

Brian and Molly interviewed LT Gov Becky Skillman about the federal stimulus funds that Indiana started receiving last year. Becky told us how the money has been used and is going to be used, because Indiana has only received close to half of their allotted 4.3 Billion dollars. She also filled us in on the last minute negotiations happening on the Indiana general assembly floor.

-Invest.In.gov is where you can follow up on how the money is spent.

- The original interview from 1 year ago may be heard here at the following link .

   Joe in the office of Woodland Village

In this episode, after being laid off from the Hummer plant outside of South Bend, Jim Harwood explains what it's like to tell your kids you have to downsize.

In the studio, Jesse and Steve talk with Joe, the manager at Woodland Village, who went through his own downsizing, coming back to work with his dad Big Joe after losing his job in the mortgage industry.