Little Bay Bridge

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Little Bay Bridge
The Little Bay Bridge spans the mouth of Little Bay
Official name	Little Bay Bridge
Carries	US 4/NH 16/Spaulding Tpke.
Crosses	Piscataqua River
Locale	Dover, NH and Newington, NH
Maintained by	New Hampshire Department of Transportation
ID number	006502010002500 (SB) 006502010002400 (NB)^[1]
Total length	486.2 m (1,595 ft)
Width	8.5 m (27.9 ft) (each span)
Vertical clearance	6.93 m (22.7 ft)
Clearance below	14 m (45.9 ft)
AADT	50380 (1992)
Opening date	1966 (SB) 1984 (NB)
Maps and aerial photos Street map from Google Maps or Yahoo! Maps Topographic map from TopoZone Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA Satellite image from Google Maps or Microsoft Virtual Earth

The Little Bay Bridge is a twin span girder bridge that carries a concurrency of U.S. Route 4, NH Route 16, and the Spaulding Turnpike across the mouth of Little Bay, where it meets the Piscataqua River, between the city of Dover and the town of Newington in New Hampshire.

The first span, which is now the southbound span, was opened in 1966. The second span was opened in 1984.

Although the bridges were built to replace the older span, the Little Bay Bridges are often referred to as the "General Sullivan Bridge". This stems from the fact that the two bridges are at the same location, and the eighteen year period between the completion of the first Little Bay span and the opening of the second, when both the old and new bridges were in use.

1 General Sullivan Bridge
2 Future plans
3 Photographs
- 3.1 Little Bay Bridge
- 3.2 General Sullivan Bridge
4 References
5 External links

[edit] General Sullivan Bridge

The General Sullivan Bridge to the right of the Little Bay Bridge at Dover Point

The General Sullivan Bridge is a deck truss bridge, with a through truss span to accommodate ship traffic, that formerly carried the roads that now travel over the Little Bay Bridges. Completed in 1935, the bridge has been closed to vehicle traffic since the opening of the second Little Bay span in 1984.

The bridge was named for John Sullivan, a Revolutionary War General, Governor of New Hampshire, and delegate to the Continental Congress, who was from nearby Somersworth.

Since being closed to vehicular traffic, the General Sullivan has been used by pedestrians and cyclists, since the Little Bay Bridges do not have any facilities for foot traffic. The bridge is also a popular fishing spot. Despite being considered by some to be the second most historic bridge in New Hampshire (with the most historic being Portsmouth's Memorial Bridge), the future of the General Sullivan is uncertain.

[edit] Future plans

The Little Bay Bridges and the surrounding roads on both the Dover and Newington sides are a regular site of traffic congestion during the morning and afternoon rush hours. In response, the New Hampshire DOT is in the planning stages of a comprehensive improvement project for the roads in the area. Once plans are finalized, construction is expected to begin in 2008.^[2]

As for the bridges themselves, all three bridges at the site are being scrutinized. There are currently four planning options being considered.^[3] Three of them call for the expansion of the Little Bay Bridges to either six or eight lanes, and restoration of the General Sullivan Bridge for use as a pedestrian and bicycle way as well as use as a bus route and a possible route for overflow traffic. The fourth plan would see the elimination of both structures and replace them with a new eight lane bridge.

The eventual fate of the General Sullivan is somewhat more controversial than that of the Little Bay spans. The Coast Guard would like to see the removal of the old span, since it no longer serves its intended purpose and is seen as a navigation hazard in the channel.^[2] Others cite the fact that plans to rehabilitate the bridge are estimated to cost between $8 and $11 million more than the projected cost of removing the bridge.^[3] Those in favor of preserving the General Sullivan place emphasis of the bridge's historical value, including the recent discovery of the eligibility for its listing on the National Register of Historic Places.^[2]