Friday, November 19, 2021

1969 RI-138 Claiborne Pell Bridge at Newport, RI

(Bridge Hunter; Historic BridgesSatellite)

The suspension span is on the west side of the bridge. 
Aug 2013 Photo by C Hanchey via BridgeHunter, License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC)

This bridge replaced a ferry service. The main span of this 2.1 mile bridge is 1,601' (288m). The towers are 400' (122m) high and provide a clearance of 215' (77m). "It remains the longest suspension bridge in New England." It carries 27,000 vehicles a day. Claiborne Pell was a senator. "An image of the bridge appears on the back side of the Rhode Island version of the U.S. quarter." [ritba]

Bridges Now and Then posted
Lifting the middle piece of deck structure into place on Rhode Island's Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge, c. 1968. (Brian Stinson Collection)
 
Bridges Now and Then posted
Construction on Rhode Island's Newport Bridge, c. 1968. (CEG)
Dave Frieder: The Main Cables on this bridge were spun in a similar manner as to the Golden Gate Bridge. With the Vertex of the Hexagon at the top and bottom. This allows a more rounded cable after compacting. Designed by Parsons, Brinckerhoff, Quade & Douglas.
Jon Wolfe shared
Hard hat say’s Bethlehem

Bridges Now and Then posted
September 24, 1998. The decommissioned battleship Iowa (BB 61) passes under the Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge on its way to join the decommissioned aircraft carriers Forrestal and Saratoga at the Naval Education and Training Center, Rhode Island. (Battleship Iowa Museum)

Aug 2013 Photo by C Hanchey via BridgeHunter, License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC)

A significant fraction of the bridge is a low causeway on the east side.
Street View

Kevin Bruff posted
Winter sunrise…
Taylor Point, Jamestown, RI. 
Jamestown, RI
Newport Bridge

This is an example of a tower design that looks simple, but strong.
Street View

This is one of several construction photos that are available on the BridgeHunter page. It is the second bridge I have seen where the tower is built with a derrick on a temporary tower on what I presume is a barge. I have not yet figured out how they "grow" the height of the temporary tower.
Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority, "Newport Bridge," in Virtual Exhibits, Item #85 via BridgeHunter

I found a higher resolution copy of the photo with the tower derrick.
Bridges Now and Then posted
Construction on the Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge over Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, September 26, 1967.
Dan Murphy: Gotta love the derrick crane in the background. You can also see workers tying rebar for the deck and in the foreground, the rebar for the barrier is in place. (Notice here the electrical conduits already inside the barrier bars.)

Bridges Now and Then posted
A view of the Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge over Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, August 16, 1968. (Rhode Island State Archives)

Bridges Now and Then posted
Rhode Island's Claiborne Pell Bridge over Narragansett Bay nearing completion, c. 1968. (Ernest Myette)

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