Jamestown Bridge
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Jamestown Bridge Old Jamestown Bridge |
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 The Jamestown Bridge prior to demolition in April 2006 |
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| Official name | Jamestown-Verrazano Bridge |
| Carries | 2 lanes of Rhode Island Route 138 |
| Crosses | West passage of Narragansett Bay |
| Locale | North Kingstown and Jamestown, Rhode Island |
| Maintained by | Jamestown Bridge Commision (1940-1969) Rhode Island Department of Transportation (1969-1992) |
| Design | Cantilever truss |
| Longest span | 600 ft (182.9 m) |
| Total length | 6,892 ft (2,100 m) |
| Width | 22 ft (6.7 m) |
| Height | 135 ft (41.1 m) |
| Beginning date of construction | January 1939 |
| Completion date | July 1940 |
| Opening date | July 27, 1940 |
| Destruction date | April 18, 2006 |
| Toll | $0.25 (originally $0.90) (collected 1940-1969) |
The Jamestown Bridge, officially the Jamestown-Verrazano Bridge and usually referred to as the Old Jamestown Bridge to avoid confusion with its replacement, the new Jamestown-Verrazano Bridge, is a now demolished cantilever truss bridge that connected Conanicut Island to mainland North Kingstown, Rhode Island, spanning the West passage of Narragansett Bay. The bridge first opened to traffic in 1940, replacing ferry service as the primary connection for the town of Jamestown, situated on Conanicut Island. It was constructed for just over $3 million 1940 USD, which was paid for by tolls until June 28, 1969. With a total length of 6,892 feet (2,100 m), the Jamestown Bridge was the third longest in Rhode Island at the time of its destruction, ranking behind its replacement, the adjacent 7,350-foot (2,240 m) Jamestown-Verrazano Bridge, and the 11,248-foot (3,428 m) Newport Bridge connecting Conanicut Island to Aquidneck Island and Newport. The Jamestown Bridge was closed to vehicular traffic on October 8, 1992, and its main span was destroyed through a controlled demolition on April 18, 2006.
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[edit] Structure
The bridge consisted of 69 spans with a large continuous cantilever Warren truss centerpiece.[1] The 600 ft (183 m) main span was 135 ft (41 m) above the western portion of the Narragansett Bay. The bridge was long thought to be a danger to motorists, consisting of only two, undivided lanes. Its steep climb proved challenging for some vehicles and with no passing lanes or shoulders, hazardous conditions resulted when stalled vehicles were on the bridge. The roadway deck through the cantilevered span was an open steel-grid deck, similar to that of the now demolished Sikorsky Bridge on the Merritt Parkway in Connecticut. The deck proved to be extremely slippery when wet. To solve the problems of the aging bridge, the RIDOT began construction of the new Jamestown-Verrazano Bridge in 1985. The new bridge, which opened with the Route 138 Freeway on October 8, 1992, includes four divided lanes of traffic with shoulders and a sidewalk.
[edit] Demolition
The United States Coast Guard had long declared the Jamestown Bridge to be a navigation hazard and requested that the state of Rhode Island dismantle the eastern two thirds of it. The Sierra Club, an environmental organization, suggested to instead turn the bridge into a bike route and walkway. However, the aging structure proved to be in worse condition than previously thought, prompting officials to go ahead with removing the entire structure.
On April 18, 2006, the main span of the Jamestown Bridge was brought down by 75 pounds of RDX explosives and 350 shaped charges. On May 18, 2006, crews imploded the trusses that once carried the side spans. Throughout mid-2006, workers removed the remaining support piers and low-level approach spans west of the main channel. Demolition of the old Jamestown Bridge was almost fully completed by December 2006. As of May 2008, the extreme western portion of the bridge has not yet been demolished, with no plans to do so in the immediate future. The total cost for removal of the Jamestown Bridge was $22 million USD (2006).
[edit] References
- ^ Jamestown-Verrazano Bridge: Historic Overview. BostonRoads.com. Eastern Roads. Retrieved on 2008-02-09.
[edit] External links
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