Sky Ride
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| Coordinates | 41°51′39″N 87°36′41″W / 41.860916°N 87.611525°WCoordinates: 41°51′39″N 87°36′41″W / 41.860916°N 87.611525°W |
| Carries | fairgoers in suspended 36 passenger cars |
| Crosses | Century of Progress exhibition grounds, downtown Chicago |
| Locale | Chicago, Illinois |
| Official name | Century of Progress Exhibition Sky-Ride |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Transporter Bridge |
| Total length | 3200 ft (975 m) including 2 600 ft (182 m) backstays |
| Longest span | 1850 ft (564 m) (some sources say 2000 ft) |
| Clearance above | 628 ft (160 m)high towers |
| Clearance below | 190 ft (58 m) above fairgrounds |
| History | |
| Opened | February 2, 1933 |
| Closed | November 1934 |
The Sky Ride was an attraction built for the Century of Progress 1933 World's Fair in Chicago, Illinois. It was a transporter bridge (or aerial tramway) designed by the bridge engineering firm Robinson & Steinman that ferried people across the lagoon in the center of the fair. It was located near what became Meigs Field, but was demolished after the Fair, having carried 4.5 million passengers. The Sky Ride had an 1,850-foot (564 m) span and two 628-feet (191 m) tall towers, making it the most prominent structure at the fair. Suspended from the span, 215 feet (66 m) above the ground, were rocket-shaped cars, each carrying 36 passengers.
The Century of Progress Exposition committee sought an exciting signature attraction, one that would be remembered like the Eiffel Tower from the 1889 Paris World's Fair or the Ferris wheel of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. One proposal under consideration, to be underwritten by Montgomery Ward, was called the Tower of Water and Light—a 250-foot-tall tower with water flowing down the outside and elevators traveling to observation platforms. When the Montgomery Ward company backed out of its offer to finance the tower, the commission considered the Sky Ride.
The Sky Ride, an idea suggested by an engineer named William L. Hamilton, would span the grounds and be relatively cheap to build. The ride was built in the span of six months prior to the fair's opening, by a consortium of five companies: Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company, Inland Steel, John Roebling and Sons, Mississippi Valley Structural Steel and Otis Elevator at a cost of about 1,000,000 USD.
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