Rating:
1 vote

Green Island Bridge (1884)

Albany County, New York, and Rensselaer County, New York

Photos 

Bridge in 1973

Photo submitted by Geoff Hubbs

Enlarge

BH Photo #442033

Map 

Video 

Green Island Bridge Collapse

This film was taken a few minutes after the collapse of the Green Island Bridge that linked Green Island and Troy in upstate New York- in the 70's

Video posted to YouTube by Ed Deet

Play video on YouTube

Description 

When rail service ended in Troy on July 27, 1963, it was converted for automobile traffic. Until then the northern span was a rail bridge, and the southern span was a toll bridge for cars, trolleys, and pedestrians. It had a lift span added in 1924-25 for river shipping. This bridge failed on March 15, 1977 due to flooding caused by 2.7 inches (69 mm) of heavy weekend rains, coupled with melting snows and heavy runoff. The flood-induced scour undermined the lift span pier, causing the western lift tower and roadbed span of the bridge to collapse into the Hudson River.

Facts 

Overview
Lost Quadrangular lattice through truss lift bridge over Hudson River on Railroad/Road
Location
Green Island, Albany County, New York, and Rensselaer County, New York
Status
Replaced by a new bridge
History
Built 1884; Swing span removed and lift span added 1924; RR spans converted for automobile traffic in 1963; Lost to scour caused by flooding in 1977
Railroads
- Delaware & Hudson Railway (DH)
- Interurban
- Rensselaer & Saratoga Railroad (R&S)
- Schenectady Railway Co. (SRC)
- Troy & Schenectady Railroad (T&S)
Design
Quadrangular lattice through truss
Approximate latitude, longitude
+42.73595, -73.69086   (decimal degrees)
42°44'09" N, 73°41'27" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
18/607162/4732324 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Troy South
Inventory number
BH 52624 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

19th Century (7,803)
Albany County, New York (105)
Built 1884 (183)
Built during 1880s (2,044)
Delaware & Hudson Railway (142)
Disaster (12)
Green Island, New York (10)
Hudson River (61)
Interurban (945)
Lattice through truss (590)
Lattice truss (622)
Lost (26,142)
Lost 1977 (78)
Lost during 1970s (836)
Movable (3,048)
Navigable waterway (2,172)
New York (4,651)
 Pony truss (16,521)
Quadrangular lattice through truss (184)
Rail-and-Road (391)
Rail-to-road (357)
Railroad (16,032)
Rensselaer & Saratoga Railroad (2)
Rensselaer County, New York (127)
Replaced by new bridge (17,683)
Schenectady Railway Co. (8)
Through truss (15,606)
Toll (172)
Troy & Schenectady Railroad (6)
Troy, New York (27)
Truss (33,700)
Vertical lift (423)
Warren pony truss (3,461)
Warren truss (6,732)

Update Log 

  • April 30, 2021: New photo from Luke
  • January 7, 2019: Photos added from Geoff Hubbs
  • February 19, 2018: New photo from Luke
  • May 13, 2014: Updated by Luke Harden: Added photograph
  • May 13, 2014: Photos imported by James Baughn
  • October 8, 2013: New photo from Douglas Butler
  • September 19, 2013: New Street View added by Douglas Butler
  • September 15, 2013: New photos from Douglas Butler
  • June 6, 2012: Updated by Luke Harden: Added categories "Navigable waterway", "Hudson River", "Delaware & Hudson Railway", "Destroyed by flood"

Related Bridges 

Sources 

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Comments 

Green Island Bridge (Old)
Posted April 13, 2018, by Luke

I made a webmaster request about that...

...a few years ago.

Green Island Bridge (Old)
Posted April 13, 2018, by Richard Doody (rpdoody3 [at] gmail [dot] com)

Photos 1 and 2 of 8 for this listing are actually of the current i.e.new Green Island Bridge and should be moved to the separate listing which now extists for that span and deleted from this one.