The Cape Cod Canal Railroad Bridge (also known as the Buzzards Bay Railroad Bridge), a vertical

lift bridge A vertical-lift bridge or just lift bridge is a type of movable bridge in which a span rises vertically while remaining parallel with the deck. The vertical lift offers several benefits over other movable bridges such as the bascule and swin ...

Bourne, Massachusetts Bourne ( ) is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 20,452 at the 2020 census. For geographic and demographic information on specific parts of the town of Bourne, please see the articles on Bourne (CDP), ...

near

Buzzards Bay Buzzards Bay is a bay of the Atlantic Ocean adjacent to the U.S. state of Massachusetts. It is approximately 28 miles (45 kilometers) long by 8 miles (12 kilometers) wide. It is a popular destination for fishing, boating, and tourism. Since ...

, carries

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

traffic across the

Cape Cod Canal The Cape Cod Canal is an artificial waterway in the U.S. state of Massachusetts connecting Cape Cod Bay in the north to Buzzards Bay in the south, and is part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. The approximately canal traverses the neck o ...

, connecting

Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer mont ...

with the mainland.

Design and construction

The bridge was constructed beginning in 1933 by the

Public Works Administration The Public Works Administration (PWA), part of the New Deal of 1933, was a large-scale public works construction agency in the United States headed by Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes. It was created by the National Industrial Recove ...

from a design by firms Parsons, Klapp, Brinckerhoff, and Douglas as well as Mead and White (both of New York), for the

United States Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

, which operates both the bridge and the canal. The bridge has a main span, with a clearance when raised, uses Cape Cod Canal, p.6 counterweights on each end, and opened on December 29, 1935. The bridge replaced a

bascule bridge A bascule bridge (also referred to as a drawbridge or a lifting bridge) is a moveable bridge with a counterweight that continuously balances a span, or leaf, throughout its upward swing to provide clearance for boat traffic. It may be single- or ...

that had been built in 1910. At the time of its completion, it was the longest vertical lift span in the world.Anniversary, p. 2 It is now the second longest lift bridge in the United States, the longest being the

Arthur Kill Vertical Lift Bridge The Arthur Kill Vertical Lift Railroad Bridge is a rail vertical-lift bridge connecting Elizabethport, New Jersey and the Howland Hook Marine Terminal on Staten Island, New York, United States. The bridge was built by the Baltimore and Ohio Rai ...

between

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

and

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Maintenance and current use

The bridge is owned, operated and maintained by the US Army Corps of Engineers. In 2002, the bridge underwent a major rehabilitation, including replacement of cables, machinery, and electrical systems, at a cost of $30 million and was reopened in 2003. The rail line on either side of the bridge is owned by

Massachusetts Department of Transportation The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) oversees roads, public transit, aeronautics, and transportation licensing and registration in the US state of Massachusetts. It was created on November 1, 2009, by the 186th Session of t ...

, and is used year-round by the

Massachusetts Coastal Railroad The Massachusetts Coastal Railroad is a Class III railroad serving south-eastern Massachusetts. The railroad maintains track from Hyannis to Framingham, with the railroad operating its own trains on the 97 miles of lines between Hyannis and Fa ...

for their refuse trains and other freight operations. The bridge is also used by seasonal tourist trains operated by the

Cape Cod Central Railroad The Cape Cod Central Railroad is a heritage railroad located on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. It operates on a rail line known as the Cape Main Line which is owned by Massachusetts Department of Transportation. The line was previously owned and ope ...

, as well as the

MBTA The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (abbreviated MBTA and known colloquially as "the T") is the public agency responsible for operating most public transportation services in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. The MBTA transit network in ...

's seasonal CapeFLYER service, which runs between Boston and Hyannis.

References

* *

External links

*
Vertical Lift Railroad Bridge Brochure
- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
13 Historic Photos of the Cape Cod Canal Railroad Bridge
- Curbed Cape Cod, May 24, 2013 {{Crossings navbox , structure = Crossings , place =

, bridge = Cape Cod Canal Railroad Bridge , bridge signs = ''Bay Colony Railroad'' , upstream =

, upstream signs = , downstream =

, downstream signs = , state=collapsed Railroad bridges in Massachusetts Vertical lift bridges in the United States Bridges completed in 1935 Art Deco architecture in Massachusetts Bourne, Massachusetts Bridges in Barnstable County, Massachusetts Cape Cod Canal Historic American Engineering Record in Massachusetts Towers in Massachusetts Public Works Administration in Massachusetts

Design and construction

Maintenance and current use

See also

References

Further reading

External links