Norwottuck Rail Trail Bridge
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
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
- List of bridges documented by the Historic American Engineering Record in Massachusetts
- List of crossings of the Connecticut River
References
- Jackson, Donald C. (1988). Great American Bridges and Dams. Wiley. pp. 95–96. ISBN 0-471-14385-5.
External links
- 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.
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- Amtrak Old Saybrook – Old Lyme Bridge
- Arch Bridge
- Bulkeley Bridge
- Calvin Coolidge Bridge
- Canalside Rail Trail Bridge
- Cheshire Bridge
- Columbia Bridge
- Cornish–Windsor Covered Bridge
- Dexter Coffin Bridge
- French King Bridge
- Gill–Montague Bridge
- Hampden County Memorial Bridge
- Janice Peaslee Bridge
- Joseph E. Muller Bridge
- Ledyard Bridge
- Lyme–East Thetford Bridge
- Morey Memorial Bridge
- Mount Orne Covered Bridge
- Norwottuck Rail Trail Bridge
- Piermont Bridge
- Pittsburg–Clarksville Covered Bridge
- Ranger Bridge
- Raymond E. Baldwin Bridge
- Sunderland Bridge
- Vietnam Memorial Bridge
- Wells River Bridge
- Willimansett Bridge
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