Hell Gate Bridge
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Hell Gate Bridge | |
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| Hell Gate Bridge | |
| Carries | Amtrak Northeast Corridor rail line (2 tracks); CSX/Canadian Pacific freight rail line (1 track) |
| Crosses | Hell Gate of the East River |
| Locale | Queens and the Bronx in New York City via Randall's and Ward's Islands |
| Maintained by | Amtrak |
| Design | Arch bridge |
| Total length | 17,000 feet (3.2 mi; 5.2 km) |
| Width | 100 feet (30.5 m) |
| Longest span | 1,017 feet (310 m) |
| Clearance below | 135 feet (41.1 m)) |
| Opened | September 30, 1916 |
| Coordinates | 40°46′58″N 73°55′19″W / 40.782652°N -73.921937°ECoordinates: 40°46′58″N 73°55′19″W / 40.782652°N -73.921937°E |
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The Hell Gate Bridge (originally the New York Connecting Railroad Bridge or The East River Arch Bridge) is a 1,017-foot (310 m) steel arch railroad bridge between Astoria in the borough of Queens and Randall's and Ward's Islands (which are now joined into one island and are politically part of Manhattan) in New York City, over a portion of the East River known as Hell Gate.
The bridge is used by Amtrak and by some CSX, Canadian Pacific, Providence & Worcester Railroad, and New York and Atlantic freight trains. The bridge and structure are owned by Amtrak, part of its Washington, D.C. to Boston electrified main line known as the Northeast Corridor. Metro-North Railroad trains may one day run on the bridge.[citation needed] The bridge is also part of the New York Connecting Railroad, a rail line that links New York City and Long Island to the North American mainland.
The Hell Gate Bridge runs parallel to the Queens span of the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge, which connects Queens, the Bronx, and Manhattan, and drivers can see the length of the bridge just east of the roadway.
The great arch bridge is the largest of three bridges, along with more than 17,000 feet (3.2 mi; 5.2 km) long of approach spans and viaducts, that form the Hell Gate complex. An inverted bowstring truss bridge with four 300-foot (91.4 m) spans crosses the Little Hell Gate (now filled in); and a 350-foot (106.7 m) fixed truss bridge crosses the Bronx Kill (now narrowed by fill).
This bridge was the inspiration for the Sydney Harbour Bridge in Sydney, Australia.
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[edit] History
The bridge was conceived in the early 1900s as a way to link New York and the Pennsylvania Railroad with New England and the New Haven Railroad.
Construction was overseen by Gustav Lindenthal, whose original design left a gap of 15 feet (4.6 m) between the steel arch and the masonry towers. Fearing that the public assumed that the towers were structurally integral to the bridge, Lindenthal added aesthetic girders between the upper chord of the arch and the towers to make the structure appear more robust.[1] The original plans for the piers on the long approach ramps called for a steel lattice structure. The design was changed to smooth concrete to soothe concerns that asylum inmates on Ward's and Randall's islands would climb the piers to escape. [2]
The engineering was so precise that when the last section of the main span was lifted into place, the final adjustment needed to join everything together was 1⁄2 inches (12.7 mm). The bridge was completed on September 30, 1916.
It was the world's longest steel arch bridge until the Bayonne Bridge was opened in 1931, and was surpassed again by the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1932.
The bridge originally carried four tracks, two each for passenger and freight, but one freight track was abandoned in the mid-1970s. At one time, all tracks were electrified with the NH-PRR standard 11 kV 25 Hz overhead catenary; the passenger tracks since 1917, and the freight tracks from 1927 to 1969.
In 1996, the bridge received a facelift, including its first comprehensive paint job in 80 years. It was painted "Hell Gate Red," a dark, natural red. The bridge would be the last New York City bridge to collapse if humans disappeared, taking at least a millennium to do so, according to the February 2005 issue of Discover magazine. Most other bridges would fall in about 300 years. [3]
[edit] Gallery
 View from Astoria Park at dawn |
 View to the south from a locomotive cab |
Hell Gate and Robert F. Kennedy Bridges New York City Queens.jpg
Aerial view of the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge (left) and the Hell Gate Bridge (right) |
 Seen from the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge |
 View from Astoria Park on a summer afternoon |
 A panorama of the Hell Gate Bridge and Robert F. Kennedy Bridge from Astoria Park |
[edit] See also
- New York Connecting Railroad
- Oak Point Link
- Sydney Harbour Bridge - Designed by John Bradfield in 1916 and believed to have been influenced by the Hell Gate Bridge.
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Hell Gate Bridge |
[edit] References
- ^ Hell Gate Bridge
- ^ Hell Gate Bridge
- ^ Weisman, Alan (February 2005). "Earth Without People: What would happen to our planet if the mighty hand of humanity simply disappeared?". Discover magazine. http://discovermagazine.com/2005/feb/earth-without-people/. Retrieved 2006-11-06.
- Cook, Richard J. (1987). The Beauty of Railroad Bridges in North America -- Then and Now. San Marino, California (USA): Golden West Books. ISBN 0-87095-097-5.
- Hell Gate Bridge in the Structurae database
