Mount Hope Bridge
Coordinates: 41 ° 38 ′ 23 " N , 71 ° 15 ′ 29" W.
| Mount Hope Bridge | ||
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| use | Road bridge | |
| Crossing of | Mount Hope Bay | |
| place | Bristol , Rhode Island | |
| construction | Suspension bridge | |
| width | 8.5 m | |
| Longest span | 366 m | |
| Clear height | 41 m | |
| start of building | December 1927 | |
| completion | October 1929 | |
| planner | Robinson & Steinman | |
| location | ||
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The Mount Hope Bridge is a suspension bridge that leads from Bristol , Rhode Island , USA over the narrowest part of Mount Hope Bay to Rhode Island in Narragansett Bay .
description
The road bridge has two lanes and a very narrow walkway on both sides, which is only used for emergencies and is not released for general use. Cyclists can use the road, but caution should be exercised due to possible high winds. The access roads are only a few meters above sea level. The bridge therefore has long ramps in order to achieve the necessary height for the required clearance height of 41 m (135 ft). The entire length of the structure including the access roads is therefore given as 1868 m (6130 ft).
The suspension bridge has a main opening with a span of 366 m (1200 ft) and two side panels with a span of 229 m (750 ft). The length between the anchor blocks is 914 m (3000 ft). The 8.53 m (28 ft) wide carriageway girder is stiffened by an open truss structure located under the carriageway. It is carried by two 28 cm thick suspension cables that run over the 89 m (285 ft) high pylons to massive anchor blocks on the bank or near the bank. The suspension cables were made from 2,450 wires each using the air-jet spinning process .
history
There used to be a ferry service between the mainland and Rhode Island, but this had to be stopped in stormy weather and ice drift in winter. As a result of the increasing traffic, the private New Hope Bridge Company received a license to build a bridge in the 1920s .
The bridge was designed by Robinson & Steinman . It was also the first bridge for which David B. Steinman, as Chief Engineer, was responsible for the construction. Construction began on December 1, 1927 with work on the pillar foundations and anchor blocks, which weigh over 16,000 t on the mainland side and 25,000 t on the island side. The clearance height of 135 ft required for the bridge goes back to the Brooklyn Bridge , for which this dimension was required for the first time and has since been used on most bridges in the greater New York area. Contrary to Steinman's reservations , the entrepreneur McClintic-Marshall Company used newly developed, hot-drawn wires to manufacture the suspension cables . After the cables were completed and just four months before the scheduled opening date, some broken wire strands were discovered. The suspension cables and the hangers therefore had to be removed and replaced with new ropes made from cold-drawn wires. This led to the fact that the suspension cables made of the same hot-drawn wires were also replaced on the Ambassador Bridge, which was also built by McClintic-Marshall at the time . The bridge finally opened on October 24, 1929, five months late.
On September 21, 1938 , the bridge survived one of the most severe hurricanes to hit the area without any significant damage.
In 1954 the bridge company was placed under settlement administration (Receivership) due to insufficient toll income and the bridge was taken over by the state, which also stopped collecting the toll in 1998. Various maintenance measures have been carried out over the past few decades, particularly on the suspension cables and hangers. The bridge was repainted in the green preferred by Steinman.
In 1976, the Mount Hope Bridge was entered in the National Register of Historic Places under monument protection provided.
