Chicago bridge permit bonds.
From $100.
The Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) requires a permit, backed by a surety bond, for construction or utility work that affects a bridge, a viaduct, or the public way immediately adjacent to one. Premiums cost 2% of the bond amount, $100 minimum.
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How much does a Chicago bridge permit bond cost?
2% of the bond amount, from $100. Enter your amount in the calculator for the exact price.
Three steps. One sitting.
No long underwriting queue for the standard bridge permit bond — enter your amount, pay, and file with CDOT. Here is the whole thing:
Apply online
Your company details, the bond amount your bridge permit requires, and the effective date — that is the application.
Approved
No credit check up to $10,000, and most applications approve instantly. Because bridge work can run large, bigger bond amounts may get a brief underwriter review.
File with CDOT
Submit the executed bond to the Chicago Department of Transportation with your bridge or public-way permit application. Wet-ink originals mailed on request.
What it is and who needs it.
What the bridge permit bond actually guarantees
CDOT holds permitting authority over the public way, including the area in and around the roughly 300 bridges and viaducts it maintains — 37 of them movable spans over the Chicago and Calumet Rivers. No work in the public way, including work that touches or is adjacent to a bridge structure, may start without an approved permit, and CDOT can require a bond as a condition of issuing one.
It is a three-party arrangement: you (the principal), the surety carrier, and the City of Chicago (the obligee), with the public and the City as the protected parties. If permitted work damages a bridge structure, obstructs navigation or traffic beyond what the permit allows, or is left unrestored, the City can recover against the bond up to the amount your permit set.
It is not insurance for you — if the surety pays a claim, you repay the surety. There is no single citywide bond figure: CDOT sizes it to the scope of the specific bridge or public-way work your permit covers, so enter the amount stated on your permit paperwork.
You need this bond if you are
Claims, renewal, filing, and what sets the price.
If a claim is made
A claim comes from the party the bond protects, the obligee named on the form, when the duty the bond guarantees is not met.
The surety investigates and pays a valid claim, up to the bond amount. You then repay the surety: a surety bond is a guarantee of your performance, not insurance for you.
Renewal and term
The premium covers a one-year term from the effective date you choose.
Renew before the expiry date to keep the bond in force: the license, permit or contract it backs expects continuous coverage.
How to file it
File with CDOT. Submit the executed bond to the Chicago Department of Transportation with your bridge or public-way permit application. Wet-ink originals mailed on request.
What sets the price
The premium is 2% of the bond amount, $100 minimum: the amount the obligee sets moves the price, not your business profile.
No credit check up to $10,000. Above that, the carrier may run a soft pull, which never affects your score.
Where a check runs, it decides approval; the rate is the same for everyone approved.
One application, then a fast decision.
Submit the application with the bond amount your CDOT bridge permit requires. No credit check up to $10,000, and most applications approve instantly.
Start the application →Common questions.
Other Illinois bonds.
Price and requirements checked on the carrier’s application, . Page updated .
Get your CDOT bridge permit bond filed today.
From $100, no credit check up to $10,000. Enter your permit amount and file with CDOT the same day. Free until issued.