'It doesn't look so great': Repairs continue under viaduct near Guaranteed Rate Field
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Only on 2.
Part of a busy viaduct near Guaranteed Rate Field, home of the White Sox, is shut down as workers make repairs. If you take a close look, you can understand why.
Rusted out support beams, with some missing big chunks and others with massive holes. CBS 2's Noel Brennan has the story on the condition of some of those beams.
Baseball season is around the corner, and a nearby bridge has seen better days.
"At the moment, it doesn't look so great. It's not really a fun to see all of this work going on right before baseball season, but on the other hand, safety is our top priority."
Eleventh Ward Ald. Nicole Lee said Norfolk Southern Railroad is repairing the bridge it owns, just west of Guaranteed Rate Field on 35th Street.
"I understand these repairs to be emergency repair to a center line support," Lee said.
A spokesperson for the railroad calls them "safety-critical repairs" of two columns.
"What I've been told is that they have enough redundancies that it's not, it doesn't pose a safety risk, especially with the two new beams in," Lee said.
There were around 90 beams and 38 of them had noticeable holes or chunks missing.
"Yeah, it's really disconcerting to walk through as a pedestrian. And I'm sure as you were counting them, it didn't feel very good walking through there," Lee said.
"I'm looking forward to when they replace all of them," added Lee.
The bridge doesn't look much better than it did five years ago, but there's work happening now, and it should be done by Saturday.
"There's plenty of time to finish getting ready for opening day," Lee said. "I've been assured that this is going to be structurally sound."
Baseball lies ahead, and hopefully, so do better days for a bridge.
