Bridge 6, Erie Canal

Geobox|Bridge
name = Bridge 6
other_name = Crescent Bridge
category = Bridge

---

image_caption =
country = United States
country_

state = New York
state_

region_type = Counties
region = Albany, Saratoga
municipality =
parent_typed = Road
road =
road_note = (4 lane)
river_type = Crosses
river = Mohawk River
length_imperial = 1229
length_note = cite web|title=National Bridge Inventory - 000000004005580| publisher=National Bridge Inventory|date=2008|accessdate=2008-05-08|url=http://nationalbridges.com/nbi_record.php?StateCode=36&struct=000000004005580]
width_imperial = 80
width_note =
height_type =
height =
height_note =
style_type = Design
style = Girder
material = Steel
lat_d = 42
lat_m = 49
lat_s = 17.15
lat_NS = N
long_d = 73
long_m = 43
long_s = 54.73
long_EW = W
established_type = Built
established = 1996
established1_type =
established1 =
management_type = Maintained by
management = NYSDOT
code_type = NBI Number
code_label = National Bridge Inventory identification number
code = [http://nationalbridges.com/nbi_record.php?StateCode=36&struct=000000004005580 000000004005580]
free_type = Load
free_label = Max allowable load limit
free = 79 tons (71.7 t)
free_note =


map_caption = Location of Bridge 6 in New York
map_locator = New York
map1 = Map of USA NY.svg
map1_caption = Location of New York in the United States

Bridge 6 is a convert|1229|ft|m|sing=on over the Mohawk River/ Erie Canal is in Crescent, New York.

Crescent is a hamlet in the town of Halfmoon in southern Saratoga County on the northern side of the Mohawk River.

The Crescent Bridge carries U.S Route 9 over the Mohawk River between the towns of Colonie in Albany County and Halfmoon.

History

The first crossing at Crescent was the Erie Canal Aqueduct which carried the canal over the river. The "Clinton's Ditch" aqueduct was a wooden structure supported by twelve stone piers. It served from the canal's opening in 1825 until 1842. Before the aqueduct was built people and goods were ferried across the river at the nearby Dunsback Ferry and Forts Ferry. The Crescent aqueduct was one of two that crossed the Mohawk River, the other was at Rexford. The one in Crescent was called the Lower Mohawk Aqueduct, and the one at Rexford was the Upper Mohawk Aqueduct. When the Erie Canal was widened in 1842 a second larger Crescent aqueduct was built beside the first one. Afterwards the piers of the 1825 aqueduct were used to support a plank road at one point and later an iron toll bridge. The Lower Mohawk Aqueduct of 1842 was convert|1137|ft|m in length, convert|40.5|ft|m wide (interior width) and had 26 stone arch spans. It stood for 73 years until the New State Barge Canal system opened in 1915. It was the longest aqueduct in the state.

When the State Barge Canal replaced the Erie Canal a new five-span truss bridge was built across the river (1914) and the 1842 aqueduct and the iron toll bridge were dismantled to clear the river for the passage of barge traffic. There are only a few cut stone remnants of the abutments on both the north and south banks of the Mohawk River which mark the opposite ends of the aqueduct.

In the 1950s a steel girder bridge was built to replace the truss bridge. This multi-girder bridge was replaced in 1996 with a new steel girder bridge.

References