#U.S. Coast Guard Station Portage

[rabbitcruiser]

Chicago River (No. 3)

The source of the South Branch of the Chicago River is the confluence of the North Branch and Main stem at Wolf Point. From here the river flows south passing the Lake Street, Randolph Street, Washington Street, Madison Street, Monroe Street, Adams Street, Jackson Boulevard, Van Buren Street, Congress Parkway, and Harrison Street bridges before leaving the downtown Loop community area. Notable buildings that line this stretch of the river include the Boeing Company World Headquarters, the Civic Opera House, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Union Station and Willis Tower.

The river continues southwards past railroad yards and the St. Charles Air Line Bridge. Between Polk and 18th Streets the river originally made a meander to the east; between 1927 and 1929 the river was straightened and moved 1⁄4 mile (0.40 km) west at this point to make room for a railroad terminal.The river turns to the southwest at Ping Tom Memorial Park where it passes under the Chicago Landmark Canal Street railroad bridge. The river turns westward where it is crossed by the Dan Ryan Expressway; these immovable bridges have a clearance of 60 feet (18 m) requiring large ships that pass underneath to have folding masts.

At Ashland Avenue the river widens to form the U.S. Turning Basin, the west bank of which was the starting point of the Illinois and Michigan Canal.[36] Prior to 1983, this was where the US Coast Guard Rules of the Road, Great Lakes ended & Rules of the Road, Western Rivers began. Since 1983, there is just a single Inland Navigational Rules passed by Congressional Act in 1980 (Public Law 96-591). At the basin the river is joined by a tributary, the South Fork of the river, which is commonly given the nickname Bubbly Creek. A bridge used to span the South Fork at this point that was too low for boats to pass meaning that their cargo needed to be unloaded at the bridge, and the neighborhood at its east end became known as Bridgeport. The river continues to the south west, entering the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal at Damen Avenue. The original West Fork of the South Branch, which before 1935 led towards Mud Lake and the Chicago Portage, has been filled in; a triangular intrusion into the north bank at Damen Avenue marks the place where it diverged from the course of the canal.From there, the water flows down the canal through the southwest side of Chicago and southwestern suburbs and, in time, into the Des Plaines River between Crest Hill on the west and Lockport on the east, just north of the border between Crest Hill and Joliet, Illinois, eventually reaching the Gulf of Mexico.

Source: Wikipedia