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BCLR Buzzards Bay Railroad Bridge

Barnstable County, Massachusetts
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Photos 

General View, West Side Of Bridge From Northwest Shore Of Canal, View To North

Photo taken by Historic American Engineering Record

View photos at Library of Congress

Video 

On top of the Railroad Bridge

On today's CapeCast: We ride the Railroad Bridge up into the sky over the Cape Cod Canal, go into the tower and see mega-machinery and ride the teeny elevator! Exclusive video of a landmark!

Video posted by capecast

Play video on YouTube

Map 

Street View 

Description 

Second longest lift bridge in the world, after the Arthur Kill Lift Bridge in Staten Island, NY.

Facts 

Overview
Through truss vertical lift bridge over Cape Cod Canal on the Bay Colony Railroad at Buzzards Bay
Location
Barnstable County, Massachusetts
Status
Open to traffic
History
Built 1935
Builders
- McKim, Mead & White
- Parsons, Klapp, Brinckerhoff and Douglas (Design)
- Public Works Administration
Design
Polygonal Warren through truss
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 544.0 ft.
Also called
BCLR Cape Cod Canal Bridge
Approximate latitude, longitude
+41.74234, -70.61384   (decimal degrees)
41°44'32" N, 70°36'50" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
19/365805/4622427 (zone/easting/northing)
USGS topographic map
Pocasset
Inventory number
BH 38108 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

Barnstable County, Massachusetts (9)
Bay Colony Railroad (1)
Built 1935 (1,493)
Built during 1930s (8,799)
HAER documented (801)
Have street view (12,871)
Massachusetts (465)
McKim, Mead & White (1)
Movable (1,460)
Navigable waterway (1,549)
Open (29,404)
Owned by Corps of Engineers (48)
 Owned by federal government (631)
Parsons, Klapp, Brinckerhoff and Douglas (2)
Polygonal Warren through truss (305)
Polygonal Warren truss (740)
Public Works Administration (21)
Railroad (5,594)
Span length 500-1000 feet (323)
Through truss (9,587)
Truss (24,153)
Vertical lift (280)
Warren truss (4,169)

Update Log 

  • July 13, 2013: Updated by Luke Harden: Added categories "Navigable waterway", "McKim, Mead & White"
  • November 11, 2012: Photo imported by Luke Harden
  • October 5, 2012: New Street View added by Jann Mayer
  • August 17, 2012: New video from Nathan Holth
  • April 11, 2011: Updated by Frank Hicks: Added year built, alternate name
  • November 17, 2008: New photos from James Baughn
  • November 15, 2008: Added by James Baughn

Sources 

  • HAER MA-66 - Cape Cod Canal Lift Bridge, Spanning Cape Cod Canal, Buzzards Bay, Barnstable County, MA
  • Frank Hicks
  • Nathan Holth
  • Jann Mayer - jannmayer [at] gmail [dot] com
  • Douglas Butler
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Comments 

Buzzards Bay Railroad Bridge
Posted July 13, 2013, by Douglas Butler (drawbridges [at] lycos [dot] com)

The last picture is the first Strauss heel trunnion built in 1910 be for it was replaced.

Webmaster's note: The photos that were here have been incorporated into the main site.