‘The timing of this project is perfect’: Forest preserve district to replace bridge near Graue Mill

Some visitors heading to the Graue Mill and Museum used to wander across a rustic wooden bridge along Salt Creek to reach the historic site, once a stop on the Underground Railroad and a hiding place for runaway slaves.

But fast-moving floodwaters have taken a toll on the low-lying pedestrian bridge under York Road.

On Tuesday, DuPage County forest preserve commissioners hired a construction firm to replace the 28-year-old wooden structure with a concrete walkway designed to require less maintenance after flooding. The work also will dovetail with an ongoing project to remove a dam next to Graue Mill.

“The timing of this project is perfect as the old underpass is currently closed due to the dam removal and river restoration project currently underway,” DuPage County Forest Preserve President Daniel Hebreard said. “This entire area is undergoing a generational transformation, which is very exciting.”

The forest preserve district took over the mill property in 1931, adding the building to its Fullersburg Woods campus in Oak Brook. The water wheel-powered mill was built by German immigrant Frederick Graue, and its basement provided a haven for slaves traveling on the Underground Railroad.

The wooden bridge was constructed around 1996 to connect the district’s parking lot east of York Road to Graue Mill. But when Salt Creek flooded, water would sweep tree limbs and debris into the structure. The forest preserve district has been forced to close the bridge several times a year because of flooding.

“I think the new bridge design will help eliminate those problems hopefully in the future for our residents to have it open as often as possible,” Hebreard said.

At their board meeting, forest preserve commissioners authorized a $624,925 contract with V3 Construction Group to remove the wooden structure and install a concrete walkway similar to other trail underpasses throughout the county.

A canoe launch also will be installed east of the bridge, said Brock Lovelace, the district’s engineering manager.

Meanwhile, the district is removing the Graue Mill dam because it was hurting aquatic habitats. In Salt Creek, 16 native species of fish, including backside darters, emerald shiners, johnny darters, northern pike, and rock bass are all absent upstream of the dam, according to the district.

Removing the dam will “improve both the in-stream and stream-side habitats and increase the overall health of Salt Creek and the surrounding watershed,” Hebreard said at a recent planning session.

The dam was built in the 1930s as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Civilian Conservation Corps.