• Source: 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.
To survive the 1936 flood, railroad cars loaded with scrap metal were placed on the bridge to weigh it down.
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.

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Norwottuck Rail Trail Bridge
• Mass Central Rail Trail
• Norwottuck Branch Rail Trail
• Lattice truss bridge
• Connecticut Lakes
• List of bridges in the United States by state
• Calvin Coolidge Bridge
• Ashuwillticook Rail Trail
• Northampton, Massachusetts
• Connecticut River