Grand Avenue Viaduct, West Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, WI

Significance: The Grand Avenue Viaduct, Milwaukee's earliest example of a large scale concrete bridge, was the result of a national design competition which included entries from some of the most prominent architects and engineers of the day. The winning entry by The Concrete-Steel Engineering Company and by Palmer & Hornbostel of New York employed the Melan steel beam reinforcement method. The Art Deco bridge is of a barrel arch design and is a relatively late example of the Melan system. Second place in the competition went to a more innovative ribbed arch design by the well-known concrete engineer, C.A.P. Turner. City officials envisioned the viaduct as one link in a grand boulevard that would eventually connect Milwaukee with Madison, 100 miles to the west.
Survey number: HAER WI-27
Building/structure dates: 1907- 1911 Initial Construction
Building/structure dates: 1993 Demolished
Building/structure dates: 1951 Subsequent Work