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Albany County Rail-Trail - NY 85 Overpass

Albany County, New York

Photos 

Albany County Rail Trail - NY 85 Overpass

Photo taken by Chuck Miller in 2009

View this photo at chuckthewriter.blog

BH Photo #457422

Map 

Street View 

Description 

Originally carried Delaware and Hudson Railroad. Part of the Slingerlands Historic District

Facts 

Overview
Pony/through plate girder bridge over NY Route 85 (New Scotland Rd) on Albany County Rail Trail (formerly Delaware and Hudson Railroad)
Location
Bethlehem, Albany County, New York
Status
Open to bicyclist and walker trail traffic. Gravel surface.
Future prospects
Will be rehabbed or replaced for rail trail use
History
Built 1912
Builder
- American Bridge Co. of New York
Railroads
- Albany & Susquehanna Railroad (A&S)
- Delaware & Hudson Railway (DH)
Design
Main span: 85" deep pony plate girders skewed 60 degrees to the roadway
Girder side spans over sidewalks.
Due to the skew, some floorbeams are supported by steel pier bents.
Concrete deck with ballast
Dimensions
Total length: 78.0 ft.
Deck width: 48.0 ft.
Skew angle
60 degrees
Recognition
Posted to the National Register of Historic Places on February 14, 2012
Also called
Slingerlands Bridge
Approximate latitude, longitude
+42.62957, -73.86422   (decimal degrees)
42°37'46" N, 73°51'51" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
18/593129/4720305 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Albany
Elevation
220 ft. above sea level
Inventory numbers
NYSDOT BIN 7032650
NRHP 00102000784 (National Register of Historic Places reference number)
National Historic Register: 00102.000784
BH 72014 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

Albany & Susquehanna Railroad (9)
Albany County, New York (109)
American Bridge Co. (1,674)
Bethlehem, New York (3)
Built 1912 (879)
Built during 1910s (10,013)
Deck girder (6,335)
Delaware & Hudson Railway (143)
Girder (11,222)
Have street view (29,166)
Historic District (1)
 NR-listed (3,014)
New York (4,911)
Open to pedestrians (4,597)
Owned by county (21,656)
Plate girder (8,770)
Preserved (1,229)
Rail-to-trail (1,660)
Railroad (16,518)
Skewed (5,020)
Through girder (4,210)
Total length 75-100 feet (6,849)

Update Log 

  • January 10, 2021: New photo from Josh Schmid
  • October 7, 2019: New photo from Geoff Hubbs
  • May 3, 2017: Updated by Z Fechten: Added Historic Register info
  • December 28, 2016: Updated by Z Fechten: Updated allowed traffic
  • April 28, 2016: New Street View added by Z Fechten

Sources 

  • Geoff Hubbs
  • Josh Schmid
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Comments 

Albany County Rail-Trail - NY 85 Overpass
Posted November 20, 2021, by Ed Hollowell (erhollowell [at] aol [dot] com)

Has there been a change in this bridges status? I saw a photo of a wrecked cement truck. Was that this bridge and was the bridge damaged?

Albany County Rail-Trail - NY 85 Overpass
Posted November 18, 2021, by Luke

It can, but it'd be a jerk move to replace it.

The driver's inability to read height limit signage is not the fault of the bridge, but the fault of the driver.

Albany County Rail-Trail - NY 85 Overpass
Posted November 18, 2021, by Peter Thomas (enform [at] gmail [dot] com)

Re the prior comment

Albany County Rail-Trail - NY 85 Overpass
Posted November 18, 2021, by Peter Thomas (enform [at] gmail [dot] com)

I have two questions:

1 - Who owns the bridge at this point?

2 - Can the bridge be replaced with a smaller span while it is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and located in a Historic District?