Rating:
6 votes

Mount Hope Bridge

Newport County, Rhode Island, and Bristol County, Massachusetts

Photos 

Overview

Photo taken by Wayne Grodkiewicz

BH Photo #108766

Map 

Street View 

Description 

The bridge was recognized as 1929 "Most Beautiful Steel Bridge" in Class A by the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC).

Facts 

Overview
Suspension bridge over Mount Hope Bay on RI 114 in Bristol
Location
Portsmouth, Newport County, Rhode Island, and Bristol County, Massachusetts
Status
Open to traffic
History
Built 1929 by the McClintic-Marshall Co.; rehabilitated 1985
Builders
- David B. Steinman of New York, New York (Engineer)
- Holton D. Robinson of Massena, New York (Engineer)
- McClintic-Marshall Co. of Chicago, Illinois & Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Robinson & Steinman of New York, New York (Engineering Firm)
- William G. Grove (Chief Engineer For Robinson and Steinman)
Design
Wire suspension
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 1,200.2 ft.
Total length: 5,050.1 ft. (1.0 mi.)
Deck width: 26.9 ft.
Vertical clearance above deck: 17.0 ft.
Recognition
Posted to the National Register of Historic Places on January 31, 1976
Approximate latitude, longitude
+41.64000, -71.25833   (decimal degrees)
41°38'24" N, 71°15'30" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
19/311913/4612270 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Bristol
Average daily traffic (as of 2015)
13,000
Inventory numbers
NRHP 76000038 (National Register of Historic Places reference number)
RI 3000 (Rhode Island bridge number)
BH 31889 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Inspection report (as of November 2018)
Overall condition: Fair
Superstructure condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Deck condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Sufficiency rating: 49 (out of 100)
View more at BridgeReports.com

Categories 

AISC Award Winner (22)
Bristol County, Massachusetts (50)
Bristol, Rhode Island (1)
Built 1929 (1,013)
Built during 1920s (9,925)
County line crossing (533)
David B. Steinman (13)
Have street view (26,950)
Holton D. Robinson (9)
Massachusetts (1,106)
McClintic-Marshall Co. (76)
NR-listed (2,960)
Narragansett Bay (3)
 Navigable waterway (2,152)
Newport County, Rhode Island (16)
Open (39,886)
Owned by bridge authority (251)
Portsmouth, Rhode Island (1)
RI 114 (6)
Rhode Island (193)
Robinson & Steinman (10)
Span length over 1000 feet (106)
State line crossing (847)
Suspension (705)
Total length over 2500 feet (916)
William G. Grove (4)

Update Log 

  • April 30, 2020: New photo from Geoff Hubbs
  • November 21, 2019: Updated by Nathan Holth: Added William G. Grove as Chief Engineer, per NRHP Nomination.
  • December 15, 2015: Updated by Robert Elder: Removed Bristol County, MA momentarily until we can get clarification.
  • April 7, 2015: Photo imported by Dave King
  • October 18, 2014: New photos from Patrick S. O'Donnell
  • March 1, 2014: Photo imported by Dave King
  • June 11, 2012: New Street View added by Nathan Holth
  • December 4, 2006: Posted photo from Wayne Grodkiewicz

Sources 

  • Wayne Grodkiewicz - WGrodkiewi [at] aol [dot] com
  • Wikipedia
  • Nathan Holth
  • Patrick S. O'Donnell - 1 [dot] 991km [at] comcast [dot] net
  • Robert Elder - robertelder1 [at] gmail [dot] com
  • Geoff Hubbs
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Comments 

Mount Hope Bridge
Posted November 21, 2019, by Nathan Holth (webmaster [at] historicbridges [dot] org)

NRHP Nomination Attached.

Attachment #1 (application/pdf; 1,843,479 bytes)

Mount Hope Bridge
Posted July 31, 2017, by george oakley (georgeoakley49 [at] yahoo [dot] com)

I read an article with pictures in the local paper where i live and they mentioned rail tours where you can see this bridge.The fascinating part is they use what they call rail bikes where you pedal a 2 person or 4 person rail car on tracks of course.Also they mention that this rail line was once part of the Old Colony Railroad which operated in the 1800's.They schedule the rail rides for when people are not on the tracks when trains pass.From what i've seen of the pictures this sounds like an adventure for anyone who wants to do this.The rail cars are very interesting to look at by the pictures i saw.Never seen them before.Because of the mention of the bridge i put this article on this site.

Mount Hope Bridge
Posted December 15, 2015, by Andy Peters (anpete1971 [at] gmail [dot] com)

connects Bristol County, R.I., with Newport County, R.I., but site does not let you indicate that

Mount Hope Bridge
Posted January 5, 2013, by t. grenier (rimouse0204 [at] aol [dot] com)

....My daughter-in-law snapped this beautiful picture of the Mt.Hope Bridge (with me under it) yesterday in the Sun....

Mount Hope Bridge
Posted January 4, 2013, by t. grenier (rimouse0204 [at] aol [dot] com)

Wayne, thank you very much for that pretty, pretty picture of the Mt.Hope Bridge. I paint (not professionally), and I'm painting it from your angle but at night though. So I'm using your photograph as a focal point. Thank you, I will post a picture of the painting afterward. I remember playing under that bridge while my sisters gathered mussels, over 45 years ago......

Mount Hope Bridge
Posted February 10, 2007, by Anonymous

Great Story! Many people read this site and you woudn't know it...but a story like yours is a great one.

Mount Hope Bridge
Posted February 8, 2007, by Carol Anderheggen (carolmaeray [at] cox [dot] net)

I live near this bridge, actually about 30 seconds from where the photo was taken. I love this bridge. When the state was replacing the cabling in 2000 they announced that the decorative lights were not going to be replaced. I and many others wrote letters to newspapers, historic preservation agencies, and government agencies.

We were successful in having new lights installed. The tradition had been that the lights were lit only on national holidays. When I came back from NYC in October 2001 (I had been working the Red Cross response to 9/11) the lights were on at night and have been ever since.

Those lights lifted my spirit that night and have ever since!