Park Avenue Bridge (New York City)

Infobox_Bridge
bridge_name= Park Avenue Bridge


caption= From downriver
official_name=
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carries= 3 tracks of the Metro-North Railroad
crosses= Harlem River
locale= Manhattan and the Bronx in New York City
maint= Metropolitan Transportation Authority
id=
design= Vertical lift bridge
mainspan=
length=
width=
clearance=
below= convert|25|ft|m|abbr=on. (closed) and convert|170|ft|m|abbr=on. (open)
traffic=
open= 1956
closed=
toll=
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long=

The Park Avenue Bridge is a vertical lift bridge carrying the Metro-North Railroad across the Harlem River between the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx in New York City.

History

The first bridge on this site was constructed by the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad in 1841. It was composed of four convert|90|ft|m|sing=on-long box truss spans, three of which were fixed iron spans, while the remaining span was a wooden swing span. In the closed position, the bridge had a clearance of only seven feet above mean high water. Masonry piers supported the four box-truss spans.

In 1867, the wooden drawbridge was replaced with an iron one that gave a clearance of fifty feet. It was very busy. By the 1880s, the bridge was crossed by more than 200 trains a day.

The bridge was soon made obsolete by heavy traffic and dredging of the Harlem River Ship Canal. Alfred P. Boller worked with the railroad to create a new four-tracked swing bridge. The railroad and the city split the cost.

The new bridge was built in conjunction with the Army Corps of Engineers' project to build the Harlem River Ship Canal. The Park Avenue railroad viaduct south of 97th street was also built at the same time. While the bridge was being built, a temporary bridge was built and the old span was demolished.

When the new bridge was finished, it had a convert|300|ft|m|sing=on-long steel truss span supported by masonry piers. The new span had a vertical clearance of convert|25|ft|m.

Between 1954 and 1956, the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad built a third rail bridge on this site. The new bridge has four tracks and consists of two parallel double track spans, convert|340|ft|m long. It has convert|25|ft|m of clearance when closed and 135 when open. During the 1960s, the bridge came under the ownership of several different companies, including Penn Central Railroad. Today, Metro-North operates it.

Resources

* [http://www.nycroads.com/crossings/park-avenue/ Historical Overview]

Crossings navbox
structure = Crossings
place = Harlem River
bridge = Park Avenue Bridge
bridge signs =
upstream = Madison Avenue Bridge
upstream signs =
downstream = Lexington Avenue Tunnel
downstream signs = NYCS-bull-small|4NYCS-bull-small|5NYCS-bull-small|6