The Bulkeley Bridge (also known as Hartford Bridge, Bridge No. 980A) is the oldest of three highway bridges over the
Connecticut River in
Hartford, Connecticut. A stone
arch bridge
An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side. A viaduct ...
composed of nine spans, the bridge carries
Interstate 84,
U.S. Route 6, and
U.S. Route 44 across the river, connecting
Hartford
Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since t ...
to
East Hartford. As of 2005 the bridge carried an
average daily traffic
Annual average daily traffic, abbreviated AADT, is a measure used primarily in transportation planning, transportation engineering and retail location selection. Traditionally, it is the total volume of vehicle traffic of a highway or road for a ...
of 142,500 cars. The arches are mounted on stone piers, and vary in length from to ; the total length of the bridge is .
Completed in 1908,
[ the Bulkeley Bridge is the oldest bridge in the Hartford area and one of the oldest bridges still in use in the ]Interstate Highway System
The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. T ...
. It is also the largest and one of the last major stone arch bridges to be built in New England.
Due to its historical, architectural and engineering significance, the Bulkeley Bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
in 1993.
History
The first substantial bridge across the Connecticut River at Hartford was the Hartford Toll Bridge, a two-lane covered bridge
A covered bridge is a timber-truss bridge with a roof, decking, and siding, which in most covered bridges create an almost complete enclosure. The purpose of the covering is to protect the wooden structural members from the weather. Uncovered woo ...
that opened in 1818. The span carried horse traffic, and in 1890 trolley lines were added, connecting Hartford to East Hartford and Glastonbury
Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbur ...
. On May 17, 1895, the bridge was destroyed in a fire. The flames started near the East Hartford end of the bridge, and within ten minutes had swept the entire tinder-dry structure. There had been much agitation for a new bridge, and the '' Hartford Courant'' reported a crowd of 20,000 spectators lined the banks of both sides of the river to watch the bridge burn.
Backed by civic groups who saw an opportunity to create a monumental structure, construction on a permanent "Hartford Bridge" began in 1903. Hartford's civic and business leaders were determined that the new bridge would be "an ornament to the city which should endure forever." Designed by Edward Dwight Graves, the neo-classical stone arch bridge
An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side. A viaduct ...
design that was selected in 1903 stood in contrast to the various truss bridge
A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss, a structure of connected elements, usually forming triangular units. The connected elements (typically straight) may be stressed from tension, compression, or ...
and suspension bridge in vogue at the time.
To create a proper setting, the bridge commission tore down rows of tenements and constructed wide, landscaped approach boulevards on both sides of the river. The bridge opened on Oct. 6, 1908. At a total price tag of $3 million it was the most expensive bridge in the state, costing half-million dollars more than the Connecticut State Capitol
The Connecticut State Capitol is located north of Capitol Avenue and south of Bushnell Park in Hartford, the capital of Connecticut. The building houses the Connecticut General Assembly; the upper house, the State Senate, and lower house, the Ho ...
building itself. Constructed from over of grey and pink granite, each ten-ton block was cut to remarkable tolerances of within a 3/8ths of an inch. When completed, the bridge connected two city streets: Morgan Street in Hartford and Hartford Avenue (now Connecticut Boulevard) in East Hartford.
After his death in 1922, the span was renamed for Senator Morgan Bulkeley
Morgan Gardner Bulkeley (December 26, 1837 – November 6, 1922) was an American politician, businessman, and sports executive. A Republican, he served in the American Civil War, and became a Hartford bank president before becoming the third p ...
. The former four-term mayor of Hartford had been instrumental in the bridge's planning process. Bulkeley also served as Governor of Connecticut
The governor of Connecticut is the head of government of Connecticut, and the commander-in-chief of the U.S. state, state's Connecticut Military Department, military forces. The Governor (United States), governor has a duty to enforce state laws, ...
and United States Senator
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and powe ...
and was serving as the third president of Hartford-based Aetna Life Insurance Company. He was also elected to National Baseball Hall of Fame as the first president of the National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...
.
As horse and buggy gave way to the automobile, the Bulkeley Bridge became the most important vehicular span in the state. Until 1942, the Bulkeley was the only motor vehicle bridge across the Connecticut River between Warehouse Point in East Windsor and Middletown. It handled a lot of cross-state traffic: US 5, US 6, and US 44, as well as earlier iterations of Connecticut Route 17
Route 17 is a primary north–south state route beginning in New Haven, through Middletown, and ending in Glastonbury, with a length of .
Route description
Route 17 officially begins about west of its interchange with Interstate  ...
and Connecticut Route 101. Following a pair of horrific floods in 1936 and 1938 a series of levees were constructed along the banks of the Connecticut River, beginning Hartford's retreat from the waterfront and partially obscuring views of the bridge.
Expressway era
Congestion on city streets and the Bulkeley Bridge led the state to build an expressway bypass route and a new crossing just to the south, the Charter Oak Bridge, which opened in 1942. Founders Bridge, third Connecticut River crossing within the City of Hartford was inaugurated in 1958.
The traffic relief on the Bulkeley was short-lived, however, for much more significant changes were in the wings. By the late 1950s work had already begun on what is now I-84, Connecticut's main east-west corridor. Morgan Street and the carefully laid out approaches to the bridge were moved or covered first by the new interstate and later by its intersection with Interstate 91
Interstate 91 (I-91) is an Interstate Highway in the New England region of the United States. It provides the primary north–south thoroughfare in the western part of the region. The Interstate generally follows the course of the Conne ...
. According to urban legend, Beatrice Fox Auerbach single-handedly decided that the two Interstates would meet at the western side of the Bulkeley Bridge without a direct connection. This would force traffic to use local streets and conveniently have pass by the G. Fox & Co. department store (which was owned by Auerbach) in Downtown Hartford. I-84 would use the bridge to cross into East Hartford.
In 1964, the bridge was widened to eight lanes. However, two lanes in each direction are auxiliary, serving exits and entrances, leaving only two lanes in each direction for through traffic on I-84.
Until Riverfront Recapture efforts of the 1980s and 1990s, the bridge remained largely hidden from view behind the flood control dikes and highways.
See also
* List of crossings of the Connecticut River
This is a list of bridges and other crossings of the Connecticut River from its mouth at Long Island Sound upstream to its source at the Connecticut Lakes. The list includes current road and rail crossings, as well as ferries carrying a state hig ...
*
*
*
References
External links
Kurumi's Bulkeley Bridge page
*
{{Connecticut River
Bridges completed in 1908
Buildings and structures in Hartford, Connecticut
Interstate 84 (Pennsylvania–Massachusetts)
Road bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut
U.S. Route 6
Buildings and structures in East Hartford, Connecticut
Bridges over the Connecticut River
Bridges in Hartford County, Connecticut
U.S. Route 44
National Register of Historic Places in Hartford, Connecticut
Bridges on the Interstate Highway System
Bridges of the United States Numbered Highway System
1908 establishments in Connecticut
Stone arch bridges in the United States