Norwottuck Rail Trail Bridge
Norwottuck Rail Trail Bridge | |
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Coordinates | 42°20′14″N 72°37′07″W / 42.33722°N 72.61861°W |
Carries | Norwottuck Rail Trail |
Crosses | Connecticut River |
Locale | Northampton, Massachusetts to Hadley, Massachusetts |
Maintained by | MassDOT |
Characteristics | |
Design | steel lattice truss bridge[1] |
Total length | approximately 1,492 feet (454.76 m) |
Longest span | approximately 200 feet (61 m) |
History | |
Opened | 1887, 1992 |
Location | |
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The Norwottuck Rail Trail Bridge (also known as the Northampton Lattice Truss Bridge) is a former crossing of Boston and Maine Railroad over the Connecticut River in western Massachusetts, connecting the towns of Northampton and Hadley, by the Norwottuck Rail Trail, which is currently used for bicycle and foot traffic.
History
[edit]The Norwottuck Rail Trail Bridge is an eight-span steel lattice truss bridge. It crosses Elwell Island in the middle of the river, providing no access to the island in an attempt to keep the island otherwise untouched. Riding over the bridge shows eight spans, with two of them over Elwell Island. It was built by the R. F. Hawkins Ironworks Company.[2]
To survive the 1936 flood, railroad cars loaded with scrap metal were placed on the bridge to weigh it down.[3]
The bridge was redesigned by Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc. of Watertown, rebuilt by MassHighway, and opened in 1992 to bicycle and foot traffic as part of the Norwottuck Rail Trail.
See also
[edit]- List of bridges documented by the Historic American Engineering Record in Massachusetts
- List of crossings of the Connecticut River
References
[edit]- ^ Northampton Lattice Truss Bridge at Structurae
- ^ Toomey, Daniel P. (1892). Massachusetts of Today: A Memorial of the State Historical and Biographical Issued for the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago. Columbia. p. 347.Internet Archive
- ^ Hadley Online
- Jackson, Donald C. (1988). Great American Bridges and Dams. Wiley. pp. 95–96. ISBN 0-471-14385-5.
External links
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. MA-55, "Boston & Maine Railroad, Northampton Lattice Truss Bridge, Northampton, Hampshire County, MA", 16 photos, 2 color transparencies, 2 data pages, 2 photo caption pages
- Image of the Connecticut River Truss Bridge, ca. 1906
- Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc.
- Railroad bridges in Massachusetts
- Pedestrian bridges in Massachusetts
- Rail trail bridges in the United States
- Bridges over the Connecticut River
- Bridges in Hampshire County, Massachusetts
- Buildings and structures in Northampton, Massachusetts
- Bridges completed in 1887
- Historic American Engineering Record in Massachusetts
- History of Hampshire County, Massachusetts
- Steel bridges in the United States
- Lattice truss bridges in the United States
- United States railway bridge stubs
- Northeastern United States bridge (structure) stubs
- Massachusetts building and structure stubs
- Massachusetts transportation stubs