Norwottuck Rail Trail Bridge

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Norwottuck Rail Trail Bridge
Norwottuck Rail Trail Bridge
Carries Norwottuck Rail Trail
Crosses Connecticut River
Locale Northampton, Massachusetts to Hadley, Massachusetts
Maintained by MassHighway
Design steel lattice truss bridge[1]
Longest span approximately 200 feet (61 m)
Total length approximately 1,492 feet (454.76 m)
Opening date 1887, 1992
Coordinates 42°20′14″N 72°37′07″W / 42.33722, -72.61861 (Norwottuck Rail Trail Bridge)Coordinates: 42°20′14″N 72°37′07″W / 42.33722, -72.61861 (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, currently used for bicycle and foot traffic.

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[edit] History and construction of the bridge

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.

[edit] Image Gallery

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Northampton Lattice Truss Bridge in the Structurae database
  2. ^ * 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. Google books
  3. ^ Hadley Online
  • Jackson, Donald C. (1988). Great American Bridges and Dams. Wiley, pp.95-96. ISBN 0-471-14385-5.