(
Bridge Hunter;
Historic Bridges;
B&T;
3D Satellite)
"Hamilton Fish Newburgh-Beacon" is the official name for this bridge.
Both of these spans were designed by
Modjeski and Masters. "The bridge's main cantilever unit is 2,204 feet long, with a main navigation span of 1,000 feet and anchor spans of 602 feet." [HistoricBridges] I like the aesthetics of the arched cantilevered truss design.
The clearance at the center above mean high water is 135' (41.1m) [
nycroads]
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Oct 2017 Photo by Josh Schmid via BridgeHunter, License: Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY)
Newburgh-Beacon Bridge from Beacon Mountain |
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1 of 5 photos posted by Bridges & Tunnels
Massive but graceful, the Hamilton Fish Newburgh-Beacon Bridge carries Interstate 84 and NY Route 52 over the Hudson River between Newburgh and Beacon, New York. The first fixed crossing over the Hudson between those two cities opened in 1963 after years of consideration and legislative flexing while the parallel crossing opened in 1980.
➤ Check out more photos and history of the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge at http://bridgestunnels.com/location/newburgh-beacon-bridge/
The south span is built with COR-TEN, and the north span was painted brown to match. The bridge caused 220 years of ferry service to end. It was the last ferry north of NYC. But a private ferry service was started in 2005 so that Newburgh commuters could catch the Metro-North Hudson Line to Grand Central Station. |
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NYCroads
"This 1959 photo shows the original rendering for the proposed four-lane Newburgh-Beacon Bridge. Owing to rising construction costs and low initial projected traffic demand, the state decided to build a two-lane bridge instead. Construction began the following year. (Illustration by Harold "Dutch" Huber / Modjeski and Masters via Randy Huber, from the Historic Bridges of the Hudson Valley archives, www.hbhv.org.)"
"Before its construction, it was estimated that the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge would carry 25,000 cars each day, requiring a four-lane design. When funding became difficult, Governor Rockefeller had decided that the bridge would never carry that many vehicles, and that a two-lane structure would be sufficient. Even Dr. John Edwards, chairman of the New York State Bridge Authority, said in 1963 that a parallel span would not be needed until 1988. However, by 1964, the first full year of the bridge's operation, 25,000 vehicles were using the bridge daily, and by the 1970s, traffic volume across the two-lane bridge had doubled. The need for greater carrying capacity was realized further by the completion of the entire I-84 route between Sturbridge, Massachusetts and Scranton, Pennsylvania in 1978."
"The Newburgh-Beacon Bridge, whose main cantilever truss spans are the 19th longest in the world, now carries approximately 65,000 vehicles per day (AADT). In the years since the bridge has opened, Interstate 84 has not only become a major commercial link between New England and points west, but also formed part of the outer loop around the New York metropolitan area. Despite growing traffic volume, there are no plans to increase capacity across the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge at the present time." |
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This view is from the 1980 bridge looking at the 1963 bridge. When I first saw the 1963 bridge, I thought it was the new bridge because there was no V-lacing.
But when I saw how massive the beams were on the close bridge, I remembered that the far bridge was built in the 1960s rather than before WWII, so it would have more modern truss members.
It looks like the 1963 bridge was built with rivets but has been patched using bolts.
The bridge is well maintained. I had trouble finding street views with decent lighting that did not have maintenance equipment in the way. Here we see them inspecting the bridge.
A satellite view confirms that the southern bridge is the newer one because it has a shoulder and a cantilevered walkway.
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