Recent New York Comments

thank you. it looks like original wrought iron porch railing.

HERE'S THE FIRST ONE. IT'S FROM THE ROCHESTER (NY)PUBLIC LIBRARY WEBSITE (ROCHESTER IMAGES).

HERE'S ANOTHER PHOTO FROM THE RPL.

are they any pictures of those iron pickets?

Mr. Stewart, please check your caps lock key.

THE ORIGINAL SQUIRE WHIPPLE BOWSTRINGS HAD RAILINGS IF THEY HAD SIDEWALKS. THESE WERE IRON PICKET RAILINGS. BRIDGES IN THE MORE URBAN AREAS HAD CANTILEVERED SIDEWALKS.

Railing on bowstrings

Intriques me

I also have to do something

Wire cable was not good

Perhaps Wooden railing is Best

It was good enough in the 40s

Tough question but one coming up for me because I know that a bridge that has had nothing for 130 years will certainly be forced to have some kind of railing system.

Any ideas?

This replica bridge was done right

It surely belongs on this site

No known criteria would this bridge fail

'cept of course for that modern rail

i live and grew up around here this bridge closed in 1998 due to unsafe conditions in 1996 the bridge was restricted to one-lane, one-way traffic

http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/html/press_releases/98-09pr.shtml

Whoops I think I mistook this bridge for the one in Rodman that is closed. Glad to see it is still in use.

I find it really odd that this bridge was demolished. I remember as a kid 30 years ago fishing in this spot and this bridge was well closed back then. Why 30-40 years later does it all of a sudden need to go? This should have been cleaned up and made into a pedestrian walk bridge. It's really maddening watching our precious history callously being destroyed.

A floor beam of the original through truss broke free. New bridge was installed on 2010.

collapsed and replaced by a new bridge 2011?

Wow...My bad

I had not heard of the Lackawanna Bridge Company...until now!

LACKAWANNA BRIDGE COMPANY, BUFFALO, NY, WAS A FABRICATOR.

LACKAWANNA STEEL COMPANY WAS A STEEL MILL. I BELIEVE THE BRIDGE COMPANY WAS A SEPARATE COMPANY UNTIL THE STEEL CO. AQUIRED IT IN 1921.

Lackawanna would have been the mill that provided steel to the bridge company.

To clarify:

The bridge is a skewed Double Warren design, of which three very similar examples remain in service in the immediate area. There aren't any interior sway braces, nor are there any transverse struts in the upper lateral bracing.

No plaque remains at this particular location, but the others were both built by Lackawanna Bridge, and this one almost certainly was as well. Morse Bridge is now close to non-existent in the state.

re: pedestrian walkway

If there were still trains running over the top of the structure, there would be serious worries. But the bridge is massively over-built for the service it sees now.

Fascinating...They removed a leg of the bracing in each panel to allow for a pedestrian walkway to be installed. Never seen anything quite like this!

Bridge has been removed and is being replaced. Old bridge will be taken to the Westport fairgrounds and used fot foot traffic.

I thought I had seen struts but alas only upper lateral bracing. Reminds me of some Morse Bridge Company spans.

As Matt says its one of the Erie Canals numerous surviving historic double-Warren thru trusses, used for many of the fixed crossings. They do omit sway bracing and struts between the top chords. This particular example is skewed, so it has a heavier portal bracing. I believe there are other examples on BridgeHunter, I also have several examples documented on HistoricBridges.org.

It is unusual. I can't tell if it is a lattice.

The main truss web appears to me to be composed of X's with a strut and a tie. The struts are inclined with the top to the bridge center while the ties are opposite. The portal braces are lattice, with each diagonal crossing 3 opposing diagonals.

I don't see any sway braces other than the portal braces either. It does look like it the bridge is skewed. That will do weird things to the end panels.

The upper latteral system is composed of laced beams in a Warren pattern, so they will sometimes act as struts and sometimes as ties depending on the loading.

I'd sure like to get a closer look at this bridge!

This bridge has a street view, and it's easy to distinguish its double-intersection Warren configuration. Most of New York's Erie Canal crossings were of this type. A graceful structure indeed!

Very cool bridge! Tall trusses with massive portal bracing but yet NO sway bracing...only struts.

No for sure on the truss identification but it could be a Lattice.

Rehabbed in 2012, now painted red.

The railroad never did get back to me about the build date or the builder. Maybe they don't have the information, or maybe I'm just getting too annoying. :p

I think I may just drive down there again and look for a builder's placard or some other signature. It's a rather long hike from the road to the bridge unless I can get permission from the Boy Scout camp to drive along their path... which is a hit-or-miss thing, I've found. I doubt that my usual bribe of a case of beer would go over well with the Boy Scouts.

In the meantime, here's another picture from the last time I was there. It's a view from the span, from the New York side facing Pennsylvania.

-Richard

Is the information on this bridge confirmed?

Just because it's listed in Wikipedia doesn't mean it's correct. This is the first I have heard of a Pratt Company. Thomas died in 1875...would presume his father Caleb died before that.

Is this the only bridge on this site actually built by the Pratt company?

This bridge was replaced in 2011 by a similar Pony Truss. The new bridge is approximately the same length but is on new abutments that were raised slightly. This is to better accomodate flood waters that can be seen in the spring. The roadway was widened slightly to add shoulders. Also, the new bolted truss is completely galvanized to minimize maintenance requirements.

I have never heard that 1875 structure being called the portageville bridge. Do a little research. On the east side of the bridge was the Portage Station. It has historically always been refered to as the Portage Bridge. Portage and Portageville are two separate areas. Portageville is a mile from the bridge. On the east side still stands an old highway marker showing the name Portage.

Hello I'd like to sell you this bridge.

This span looks like something out of the Flintstones... Yet was designed and built by the same guys responsible for the beautiful cast iron and stone bridges in Central Park.

I like the human included for scale.

This bridge underwent structural repairs and was fully re-decked from 2011-2012. It was inspected and certified on 12-7-12, with the CMRR's passenger train crossing it the next day. This was the first passenger train since 1954. First Revenue train since freight service ended in 1976.

Will it be moved from its current location?

Another Melan Mess for someone to clean up. There are a bunch of Crum Elbow Creek Bridges listed in BridgeHunter in this county. I think some are duplicates. Some dont have maps. What I do know is two of the Crum Elbow Creek arch bridges are Melan arch bridges and are HAER documented:

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/hh/item/ny1857/

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/hh/item/ny1854/

And a non-Melan arch: http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/hh/item/ny1856/

"Scheduled for rehabilitation by the Elmwood Cemetery Association"

More pics please, before this gets demolished!

FYI, for those of you who were pondering, the plane on the barge in picture #1 is the Concorde

I added a couple more from the Wikipedia page.

I was disturbed that this David Steinman masterpiece had no photographic representation here nor on HistoricBridges.org. So I added a couple photos from MTA. This bridge has one of the most unusual yet beautiful tower designs I have seen.

This bridge was unfortunately destroyed in 2010. A truck driver drove into it. :(

http://www.news12.com/articleDetail.jsp?articleId=242591&position=4&news_type=news

I read from a few sources that the Steel was Fabricated by Phoenix Iron Co of Phoenixville, PA. Not sure if they erected it as well. Can anyone verify?

HI- The bridge is still standing, unused. I drive by the bridge daily and will keep you posted.

IT WAS OPEN THE LAST TIME I WAS THERE, SUMMER '10.

Volunteers from CMRR are trying to replace ties and, eventually, rails, in order to re-open this branch for excursion traffic.

Sadly this bridge was closed around 2006.

If it isn't bad enough that historical bridges are being destroyed at a feverish rate by modern day humans mother nature herself is also having her way. Very sad loss

For whatever this is worth regarding its name, "University Heights Bridge" is a complete anachronism. I lived in the neighborhood for over a decade in the 50's-60's, and can't recall ever once hearing it referred to as anything other than "The 207th Street Bridge."

Verrazano Narrows- The main span length is 4260 feet. Suspension bridge spans are measured cable support to support, not truss or roadwy length. Golden Gate 4200 feet, Throggs Neck 1800 feet

The bridge is no longer in the aerial view, so I suspect that it was lost in the 2011 flooding caused by Hurricane Irene

The bridge was heavily damaged by Hurricanes Irene and Lee, but recovery and repair efforts are underway. For updates on fundraising, closure to foot traffic and repair schedule, please refer to:

www.hallsmillscoveredbridge.com.

This is a former railroad grade separation, now carrying pedestrians over railroad. The city apparently has a ton of money to waste, since it plans to demo/replace this historic bridge rather than rehab it.

Richard, I am curious about the build date too.

I see you mention New York, Susquehanna, & Western Railway. I did some more research on this line and found this on Wiki "This line is shared by the Metro-North Railroad until Port Jervis, the terminus of Metro North service. Shortly after reaching Port Jervis at Sparrowbush the line is leased from the Norfolk Southern by NYS&W subsidiary Central New York Railroad all the way to Binghamton." This line took control of the Erie in 1892.

In reference to Erie Railroad: "The New York and Erie Rail Road was chartered April 24, 1832 by Governor of New York, Enos T. Throop to connect the Hudson River at Piermont, north of New York City, west to Lake Erie at Dunkirk. On February 16, 1841 the railroad was authorized to cross into the northeast corner of Pennsylvania on the west side of the Delaware River."

The Tusten crossing seems to be the highest point where the RR crosses the Delaware River. Your 1848 date sounds possibly true. I believe it to be built by Erie. Check out this map: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:NYSW_Historical_NJ_and_PA.svg

Keep us posted on what you find out. Good luck.

Sorry about that. I've been informed by someone at the railroad that the bridge was actually built closer to 1900. I'm waiting for an exact date.

My apologies.

I know this bridge was bulit between 1904-1909 as part of the Graham line.

I know it was built in 1848, and that it's now operated by the New York Susquehanna and Western Railroad.

Saw bridge from Amtrak train. Narrow deck width and truss config suggest bridge older than NBI given 1949 date.

I was born, in 1933, at a farm on Farrington Road

Does anybody know why they closed the bridge?

You can get close up and see the aggregate in the concrete using street view. There's also a 1910 date.

Longtime locals call this "The Peanut Bridge" because the tiny stones making up the surface finish of the bridge resemble shelled peanuts.

I am passing on this message I got from Preservation League of NYS & NYS Council on the Arts (Preserve New York, Grant Program):

Please help preserve the historic Shaw bridge in Claverack by signing the following petition (and, when you get a chance, writing comments and spreading the word).

http://www.change.org/petitions/help-preserve-the-landmark-shaw-bridge-in-claverack-ny

It is very important that we show support for this renowned American civil engineering landmark and begin its restoration.

This bridge is scheduled to be demolished by May, 2012.

The Bing aerial photos show barriers on either end of the bridge.

CSX's motto is "How Tomorrow Moves."

Looks like tomorrow won't be moving here.

Associated Press, 13 March 2012

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — A rail freight company plans to start demolition this fall of a century-old swing bridge over the Genesee River at the Port of Rochester.

The U.S. Coast Guard considers the Hojack Swing Bridge a navigation hazard and has ordered CSX to take down the defunct railroad span. WHAM-AM (http://bit.ly/yeZVjI ) in Rochester reports that CSX still needs a permit from the state Department of Environmental Conservation to demolish the bridge.

Local preservationists hope to halt the demolition through the public hearing process. Richard Margolis, publisher of a book on the bridge, tells the radio station that the span is unique among Great Lakes cities.

But some business owners along the river say it's an eyesore and should be removed.

CSX is offering historians and interested parties artifacts from the bridge.

Slightly more at http://www.wham1180.com/cc-common/news/sections/newsarticle.html?feed=122742&article=9887742

Bob:

The Castleton-On-Hudson Bridge (the correct name) is part of the N.Y.S. Throughway system, which has no weight restricted bridges. If you were to pull out of the G.E. dock with a 300-Ton transformer, you'd have a problem. But standard tractor-trailer loads are well within the bridge's capacity. Note that tandems are limited to 2 trailers in N.Y.S., not 3 as in some other states.

Marc

What is the maximum weight allowed over the bridge with tractor trailers?

NY state officials are contemplating the idea of converting the current Tappan Zee Bridge into a pedestrian walkway after it’s highway bridge replacement is built.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/23/nyregion/state-ponders-turning-tappan-zee-bridge-into-walkway.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion

By PETER APPLEBOME

Published: February 22, 2012

It seemed quixotic at first, but maybe the idea of turning the Tappan Zee Bridge into a walkway after a new bridge is built is not so far fetched after all.

State officials said Wednesday that they were exploring the possibility of turning the three-mile-long bridge into a route for pedestrians and bicyclists along the lines of the High Line on the West Side of Manhattan, or the equally successful Walkway Over the Hudson linking Poughkeepsie and Highland.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and aides said at a cabinet meeting in Albany that it would cost $150 million to demolish the existing bridge, which carries the New York State Thruway, so turning it into a walkway connecting Rockland and Westchester Counties was worth exploring.

“Could you leave it up, and what are the economics and the practicalities of that?” Mr. Cuomo said at the meeting. “It’s an exciting option.”

After more than 10 years of study, building a new bridge finally seemed to reach critical mass last fall when it was one of 14 projects chosen by the Obama administration for expedited federal review and approval — possibly allowing work on a new $5 billion bridge to begin as early as spring 2013. The bridge is 56 years old — 6 years past its anticipated life span — and needs $50 million in maintenance and repairs annually.

After the project was announced, the idea of preserving the old bridge was raised by Paul Feiner, the Greenburgh town supervisor, who proposed a walkway. The idea immediately gained support from biking and pedestrian groups. In January, the newly formed Tappan Bridge Park Alliance said that a walkway “would generate economic and community development to the region by providing a world-class destination and a much needed open space in the congested Lower Hudson Valley.”

I added links to a few images.

Claims to be the oldest Covered Bridge left in America, and Oldest Bridge in the State of New York.

It's a Parker...sandwiched between Pratt trusses.

Bing view here, http://binged.it/wK5rP2

Not sure on the main span design.

There is a great view of this bridge in bing maps

http://binged.it/AolSJU

I believe the bridge is a whipple

Photo of the bridge over the falls here.

http://www.weather.com/outlook/weather-news/news/articles/your-awesome-photos_2012-01-13?page=3

No longer exists

The picture on the Whipple page appears to be squeezed too tightly, or of another Whipple arch. The bridge is much wider than it looks there.

These before and after pictures look to be of similar width, with no visible cuts in the floor beams or their connection castings. If the bridge was narrowed, all 6 floor beams and all 14 lateral tie rods would've had to have been cut somewhere underneath to fit and still not be able to be seen.

Probably to stop drunk people from "getting any ideas"

Certainly happy to see this one saved and put to good use... I just don't understand why they feel the need to narrow them for trail use. Leave them at their original width and allow people to stand and enjoy the view while others pass by!

THIS BRIDGE WAS RELOCATED TO BOONVILLE, ONEIDA COUNTY, NY.

IT WAS RECONSTRUCTED (AND MADE NARROWER) TO SERVE AS A PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE. SEE FOURTH PHOTO ON THIS PAGE http://blackrivercanalmuseum.com/Today.htm

ALSO SEE http://www.whipple.org/photos/whipplebridge.html

(THIS PHOTO SEEMS TO BE ELONGATED VERTICALLY.)

AND VARIOUS OTHER WEB PAGES.

That's not actually a bridge in the sense of a structure connecting one shore to another but is actually a car float loading bridge.

The overhead structure would raise the bridge to allow a car float (a barge with 2 to 3 rail tracks on it)to dock and maintain level loading as a locomotive spotted freight cars on the barge,once loaded a NYC tug boat would ferry the float to the other side.

This should be called the Stuart Road Bridge. Built in 1877 and rehabilitated in 2002. The Stuart Road Bridge is on the original footings in the original location still today Monday, November 14, 2011.

1877

STUART ROAD BRIDGE

“SQUIRE WHIPPLE” BOWSTRING TRUSS DESIGN

MANUFACTURED BY THE KING IRON BRIDGE CO

OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, IT IS ON THE

STATE AND NATIONAL REGISTERS OF HISTORIC PLACES.

IN 2002 IT WAS RESTORED BY THE MONROE COUNTY DOT,

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE FRIENDS OF THE STUART ROAD BRIDGE

View attachment #1 (Microsoft Office Document Microsoft Word Document, 22528 bytes)

View attachment #2 (Microsoft Office Document Microsoft Word Document, 2106368 bytes)

Both Haiti Rd. trusses no longer exist.

Photo's referred to at the bottom are not of this bridge.

I wonder if this might not be called the Eagle Bridge. The story behind the adjacent town name is here:

http://www.hoosickhistory.com/shortstories/eaglebridgename.htm

Note also the ornament on the portal.

This bridge appears on page 36 of "The Berkshire Street

Railway" by O. R. Cummings, Connecticut Chapter of the

National Railway Historical Society Transportation Bulletin

# 79 Jan - Dec 1972. The photo is from K.M. Goodrich.

The bridge was built in 1898 for the Bennington And

Hoosic Valley Railway which was later taken over by the

Berkshire Street Railway. Service was abandoned in 1927.

Unless it was later used as a road bridge, it would have never had a deck, only ties.

Bridge now closed until a proposed rebuild in 2012.

Bridge lost due to flooding. Being replaced with modern steel bridge.

Although the information has been rather scarce, the one report I did hear said that they had the roof of the bridge, but the trusses appeared to be obliterated.

Lower Bartonsville in Vermont appeared to be partially intact and possibly some of the timbers can be salvaged and reused.

Man this was a real shame to lose such a very rare massive struture. Yes, Hurricane Irene was giving me concerns about New Englands bridges. Have any timbers been recovered or are they too far washed away and snapped? Trees for aren't so big anymore. I hope enough intact timbers can be recovered and there would be large enough wood to replace those timbers lost to rebuild the structure. Thats how the Moscow Covered bridge was rebuilt in Indiana after an F-3 tornado blew it off its foundation. Thats a thought because I dont know the exact fate. Just in case, it would be wise to set the bridge higher but with something like Hurricane Irene floods I don't know. For those in the area with interest in rebuilding, Good Luck.

I remember in the 70's the bridge was renovated. They removed the old wooden plank floors and paved it. The DOT workers would allow us to cross over on the steel beams and would carry our collie across for us.

In the 70s locals believed that there were cult rituals under the bridge at night because in the morning waiting for the bus a few times we found dead goats hanging from the bridge.

My sister, who as a child loved to fish would sit on the bridge with her home made fishing pole and pull trout out all day long. One day a professional fly fisherman approached her and asked.. "What are you using for bait"? She replied "Shicken"

For some the bridge might have been an eyesore but I see it as a part of my history and have always felt it was a beautiful bridge. Many of the homes at the foot of Petticoat lane were originally bungalow colonies for the NYC folks. Most of them sat on the banks of the Sha Wan Gunk kill as it meandered around toward the Town of Crawford.

The hood canal bridge in Washington is a retractable (and floating) bridge, so that would be the fourth example.

I only know of three genuine retractile bridges in the United States. This bridge, the Borden Avenue Bridge also in New York City, and Boston's Summer Street Bridge. A lot of sources claim there are four examples, but I don't know where the fourth example is. One source I found made me suggest that somebody has mistaken Chicago's Rall bascule bridge as a retractile bridge. If anybody knows of a genuine fourth retractile bridge in the United States I would be curious to know where it is.

Actually, this is a retractile bridge, a dying breed.

I was looking through the HAER photos and I see there used to be a riveted truss bridge next to this covered bridge as well. I presume it was this truss bridge which replaced the covered bridge. Why then, when the replacement for the truss bridge was built, was this historic riveted truss bridge not allowed to stand next to its replacement like the covered bridge?

In the interest of fairness, if they intend to replicate this destroyed covered bridge, the beautiful riveted metal truss bridge which was demolished by NYSDOT should also be replicated.

Flooding from Hurricane Irene destroyed this wonderful span today.

This is a sad loss of an historic landmark bridge that has been listed on the national register for almost 50 years.

Wonder if there will be any chance of rebuilding it.

As of May 2011, the Adam St bridge has been shut down to all vehicles due to deterioration of the structure and the lift pits. One sidewalk has also been shut down on the bridge. The bridge now has been left in its raised position and only 1 sidewalk remains open for pedestrian use.

It is unclear what the future of the bridge will be. There has been talk of demolishing it and having all traffic use the Exchange St or Matt Murphy Way bridges. There also has been talk of rehabilitation which would be similar to what was done with the Exchange St bridge back in the early 2000's where the bridge was dismembered, steel members were replaced/repaired as needed and the lift pits were entirely reconstructed.

This bridge was closed by New York State in Aug. '09 due to the crumbling base. Snowmobiles are allowed to use it in winter.