It uses a design that is rare anywhere, but almost unheard of in North American, the inverted bowstring truss. It is a deck truss where the bottom chord takes on an arch-like shape. The reason this unusual design was chosen was as unusual as the design itself: the engineer wanted to give a greater clearance for boats near the piers. This is odd because boats usually would want to pass under the bridge as far away from the piers as possible.
Perhaps often overlooked by casual visitors, the Little Hell Gate Bridge, if considered its own bridge, is nevertheless one of the most unusual and rare bridges in the country. The Little Hell Gate waterway has been mostly filled in, and it is no longer used by boats. The Bronx Kill Bridge is itself a unusual structure with an interesting design.
At a casual glance, this bridge looks like a two span continuous through truss. However, upon closer inspection, it is clear that the two spans are not connected and that each span functions as a simple truss span with a vertical end post at the pier , and they are not continuous.
In this way, this bridge is by coincidence similar to the Bronx Kill spans of the nearby Triborough Bridge which also looks continuous but is in reality simple spans. For the Hell Gate Bridge's Bronx Kill spans, there is a particular reason why the bridge was built the way it was. When it was built, there was concern that Bronx Kills might be made a navigable waterway and that tall boats might need to get under the bridge.
As such, it was decided to build this bridge as a fixed truss bridge that could easily be converted into a bascule bridge. It was designed so that if needed, it could be converted into a Strauss Heel-trunnion bascule bridge.
Among bascule bridges, the design would have been most unusual, in that it would have consisted of two single leaf bascule bridges facing each other. When opened, it would look like a double-leaf bascule bridge, but because each leaf is independent of each other and the ends rest on a pier when closed, it would in fact have been two single leaf bascules.
When opened, this design would have provided two narrow navigation channels, rather than one wide navigation channel as a true double-leaf bascule would have provided without a pier. The need to convert the bridge into a bascule bridge never occurred, so the bridge remains today as it was built. The Bronx Kill waterway has been mostly filled in, and it is no longer used by boats. On Wards and Randalls Islands there is also a very series of deck plate girder spans.
These are supported by attractive arched concrete piers. A bike path has been added that runs under the bridge between the columns of the piers. The views of the piers all lined up in the subtle curve of the bridge creates a very unique and dramatic visual experience for anyone using the trail. On Long Island, there is a series of deck plate girder spans similar to those on Wards and Randalls Islands. However, there are also a few spans that are special. These include some closed spandrel arch spans.
There are also some Warren deck truss spans. The Warren deck truss spans are unusual because they do not have any vertical members. Coordinates Latitude, Longitude : Copy Coordinates. Google Maps. Google Streetview If Available. Bing Maps. Apple Maps Apple devices only. ACME Mapper. Waze Map.
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Ephemeral New York's new book was described as "beguiling, lavishly illustrated" by Sam Roberts in his Bookshelf column December 2, Ephemeral New York. Follow Following. By the late eighties, the Hell Gate was in disrepair. Because of the continuous change in ownership over the years, no one company would claim responsibility in maintaining it. The result was two grime and graffiti-covered towers and an arch whose paint had all but eroded. This led to the invention of the color "Hell Gate Red.
It was Amtrak's decision to go with the unique color. It was also Amtrak who decided to stick with the flawed paint for reapplication after the original quickly faded before the job was even completed. The Hell Gate Bridge also spawned many urban legends. According to the urban explorer website ltvsquad. If a train did arrive, what followed was the disembarkation of the lost souls of the Spanish and Dutch explorers whose boats, as legend has it, sank in the turbulent currents directly below the bridge for which it was named after.
As a rite of passage, teenagers would climb onto the bridge itself and play chicken, proving their courage by not being chased off the bridge by the demons who called the Hell Gate home.
The sickly smell sent investigators out to the park to throw up in the nearest trash can. There is no official record of any of this happening. But in September of , a well-dressed man was found dead in Astoria Park below the bridge with a paper bag over his head. Today, Amtrak still runs over the two southwesternmost tracks of the bridge.
Providence and Worcester , another carrier who supported Conrail before the split, also uses the freight line. In , according to the Queens Gazette , a five-foot piece of debris fell from the bridge into backyard of a longtime resident of Astoria. I've never seen anything like it," the resident told the paper, adding that she often notices nuts, bolts and pieces of wood that have landed in her yard from the bridge and sets up a gazebo in the summer to protect against the falling objects.
Which is ironic seeing how in , two years after completion, the bridge was one of the first to be analyzed for structural stresses , and the data was used by engineers around the world for years to follow.
According to a Discover Magazine article that imagines a world where humans are extinct, barring an earthquake, the Hell Gate is "easily good for another thousand years. In , The New York Anti-Crime Agency , an Astoria nonprofit that runs safety seminars and neighborhood graffiti cleanups, began a public initiative to illuminate the bridge. Meloni cited safety concerns regarding the bridge's visibility for low-flying aircraft and helicopters.
Today the bridge still employs the most rudimentary of lighting. You will turn this year, most likely to little fanfare or publicity. But it's a comfort to know that you're out there, lurking in the night, a testament to human ingenuity. Ryan Healy is a writer living in Manhattan. Feb 22, PM. Facebook Twitter Reddit Email. Army Corps of Engineers. National Maritime Museum. NYC news never sleeps.
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