T. M. Strider Sites

T. M. Strider and Company was in charge of construction for the four-lane steel-reinforced concrete bridge replacement for the old two-lane wooden bridge across the Hilgard Cut, connecting the University with Oxford. The original cut was hand dug by enslaved Africans in 1857 in order to enable the Illinois Central Railroad to provide service to Oxford-University, and was the deepest cut in the ICRR system. The rails were laid along the cut, which is now the Gertrude Ford Boulevard. University Avenue was scheduled for closure for six months in order to construct the new bridge with an estimated cost of...