CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — As part of the Chicago Transit Authority’s (CTA) project to rebuild the Red and Purple El lines, it's using a giant piece of construction equipment — and it’s turning some heads on the city’s North Side.
CTA spokesperson Tammy Chase said the so-called "Windy City Gantry," which is currently over the Argyle station, is about as long as a 747 aircraft.
“It is nearly 300 feet long … and it’s really a feat of engineering that allows the CTA to build the new Red and Purple Line tracks more quickly, and with fewer impacts on the community,” Chase said.
She said the gantry will slowly make its way along the Red and Purple Line tracks between Ardmore and Leland Avenues as it completes its work over the next three years.
“How the gantry works is that it lifts each individual bridge segment up and onto the new track bed,” Chase said. “These pieces of bridge segments are about 10 tons apiece, so you need this gantry — this very heavy, massive piece of equipment to do that kind of workload.”
Second graders at Goudy Elementary School, which is right next to the tracks at Winthrop and Foster Avenues, suggested the name "Windy City Gantry" in a contest held by the CTA.
The students won a guided tour of the gantry and a pizza party.
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