Charter Oak Bridge
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The Charter Oak Bridge is one of the three highway bridges over the
Connecticut River The Connecticut River is the longest river in the New England region of the United States, flowing roughly southward for through four states. It rises 300 yards (270 m) south of the U.S. border with Quebec, Canada, and discharges at Long Island ...
in
Hartford, Connecticut 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 the ...
. The twin steel
stringer bridge Beam bridges are the simplest structural forms for bridge spans supported by an abutment or pier at each end. No moments are transferred throughout the support, hence their structural type is known as '' simply supported''. The simplest beam ...
carries the
Wilbur Cross Highway The Wilbur Cross Highway is the designation for a highway beginning at Wethersfield, running along a portion of Connecticut Route 15 and U.S. Route 5 to East Hartford, Connecticut, and then continuing northeast as a section of Interstate ...
( Route 15/
U.S. Route 5 U.S. Route 5 (US 5) is a north–south United States highway running through the New England states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont. Significant cities along the route include New Haven, Connecticut; Hartford, Connecticut; and Springfi ...
) over the river, connecting downtown Hartford with
East Hartford East Hartford is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 51,045 at the 2020 census. The town is located on the east bank of the Connecticut River, directly across from Hartford, Connecticut. It is home to aerospac ...
. Named for Connecticut's famed Charter Oak, the original crossing opened as a toll bridge in the early 1940s, allowing through traffic to pass south of downtown Hartford. It was replaced by the current bridge in 1991, which is free to motorists. It has an average daily traffic of 79,800 motorists.


History

The first motor vehicle bridge across the Connecticut River at Hartford was the
Bulkeley Bridge 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 composed of nine spans, the bridge carries Interstate 84, ...
, which opened in 1908. In 1929 the
Connecticut General Assembly The Connecticut General Assembly (CGA) is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is a bicameral body composed of the 151-member House of Representatives and the 36-member Senate. It meets in the state capital, Hartford. Th ...
passed an act creating a commission to study the need for a second bridge. The outcome was a proposed new bridge from Main and Pitkin Streets in East Hartford to Wyllys Street at Wethersfield Avenue in Hartford. In 1931 the commission hired a design consultant. The new design was an suspension span, with the eastern end shifted south to Main Street and Silver Lane. The project went to bid in 1933 and would cost $4.4 million. However, the
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
struck, banks were closed, and nothing further was done with the bridge until the decade was nearly over. With the opening of the Merritt Parkway in 1940 and the construction of the
Wilbur Cross Highway The Wilbur Cross Highway is the designation for a highway beginning at Wethersfield, running along a portion of Connecticut Route 15 and U.S. Route 5 to East Hartford, Connecticut, and then continuing northeast as a section of Interstate ...
underway, the General Assembly authorized a new bridge commission, this time for a toll bridge that would carry the area's first expressways across the Connecticut River. The commission studied several sites and arrived at a Silver Lane to Wawarme Avenue alignment. In late 1940, construction began. On December 4, 1941, disaster struck, when a section of the Charter Oak Bridge fell into the Connecticut River during construction. Sixteen men fell to their deaths in the icy river, and 606 tons of steel, including a 176-ton derrick, plummeted into the water. One body was never recovered. Sixteen other men were rescued by the Hartford fire department. Engineers later determined that the bridge section, erected over the water from the Hartford side, fell as a result of movement in the
falsework Falsework consists of temporary structures used in construction to support a permanent structure until its construction is sufficiently advanced to support itself. For arches, this is specifically called centering. Falsework includes temporary su ...
, the temporary steel and wood structure used to support the bridge girders until enough had been erected to reach the next pier. The temporary support structure moved as a result of a shift in the unstable varved clay under the river. Despite the disaster, the bridge's builder, the American Bridge Company, ordered new steel the same day the bridge fell, and it was completed on time. The four-lane Charter Oak Bridge and approach highways opened to traffic on September 5, 1942. Tolls were collected in both directions at a plaza in East Hartford. When the bridge opened, it was the longest continuous plate
girder bridge A girder bridge is a bridge that uses girders as the means of supporting its deck. The two most common types of modern steel girder bridges are plate and box. The term "girder" is often used interchangeably with "beam" in reference to bridge de ...
in the country. In 1948, the designation of state Route 15 was changed, to include a continuous planned expressway, complete in many places, from Greenwich to
Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...
. This included the Merritt Parkway, the
Berlin Turnpike The Berlin Turnpike is a 4-lane/6-lane divided arterial road mostly carrying U.S. Route 5 (US 5) and Route 15 in New Haven County and Hartford County in the U.S. state of Connecticut. The road begins one mile south of the Meriden-Berlin town l ...
, and the Charter Oak Bridge, forming at the time Connecticut's most advanced, prominent highway. The bridge carries US 5 to this day along with Route 15, but also carried
U.S. Route 6 U.S. Route 6 (US 6), also called the Grand Army of the Republic Highway, honoring the American Civil War veterans association, is a main route of the U.S. Highway system. While it currently runs east-northeast from Bishop, California, to P ...
from 1943 to 1970.


A New Bridge

As traffic increased and the planned beltways (
I-291 Interstate 291 is the designation for two Interstate Highways in the United States, both of which are related to Interstate 91: *Interstate 291 (Massachusetts), a connector to Interstate 90/Massachusetts Turnpike in Springfield *Interstate 291 (Conn ...
and I-491) were reduced in scope or cancelled entirely, the state paid particular attention to the overworked
I-84 Interstate 84 may refer to: * Interstate 84 (Oregon–Utah), passing through Idaho, formerly known as Interstate 80N * Interstate 84 (Pennsylvania–Massachusetts) Interstate 84 (I-84) is an Interstate Highway in the Northeaster ...
/ I-91 interchange and surrounding highways. What eventually came out of this was added responsibility for the Charter Oak Bridge; it would take over the connections previously served by the
Founders Bridge The Founders Bridge is one of the three highway bridges over the Connecticut River in Hartford, Connecticut. The steel stringer bridge carries the Route 2 expressway, and also crosses over Interstate 91 (which runs parallel to the river). the ...
and two tight ramps to I-91. At the same time, the Charter Oak was showing its age, both in materials and roadway design. After considering alternatives such as widening or adding a parallel span, the state decided to build a new bridge immediately to the south, and dismantle the old one. Work began in 1988 and the new bridge, free of tolls, opened to traffic on August 8, 1991, at a cost of $204 million. The original bridge was demolished after the new span was opened. The Charter Oak Landing park was created on the footprint of the original bridge along the west bank of the Connecticut River. One of the original bridge piers was preserved as a gateway into Charter Oak Landing. The new plate-girder bridge has several spans measuring in length, and has a vertical clearance of above the Connecticut River. It includes six lanes, two shoulders and a protected pedestrian walkway on its north side.


Approach Improvement Project

On June 9, 2015, Governor
Dannel Malloy Dannel Patrick Malloy (; born July 21, 1955) is an American politician, who served as the 88th governor of Connecticut from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he chaired the Democratic Governors Association from 2016 to 2017. On July ...
announced a five-year, $200 million construction project to rebuild the interchange between US-5/CT-15 and I-91 at the west end of the bridge. Although the interchange was rebuilt during the late 1980s and early 1990s along with the Charter Oak Bridge and the US-5/CT-15 portions of the Wilbur Cross Highway, traffic along the section has increased significantly since the reconstruction and the removal of the two connector ramps between I-91 and the Founders Bridge (CT-2), which is located further north, closer to Downtown Hartford. The Charter Oak Bridge took over these connections following its replacement in 1991, and became the main southeast bypass of Hartford for traffic traveling on I-91 and I-84. The project includes the replacement of the single-lane on-ramp from I-91 Northbound to CT-15 Northbound (Exit 29) with a double-lane ramp and the separation of the I-91 and CT-15 carriageways, which currently weave with each other for one mile approaching the interchange. These upgrades will improve connections between I-91 and I-84 The Charter Oak Bridge itself is not being replaced as part of the I-91/US-5/CT-15 interchange project. However, it is being rehabilitated to extend its service life, to include a new median barrier, repair and resurfacing of the bridge deck, and some widening of the bridge on the western end to accommodate the new ramps to and from I-91.


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 high ...


References

{{Crossings navbox , structure = Crossings , place =
Connecticut River The Connecticut River is the longest river in the New England region of the United States, flowing roughly southward for through four states. It rises 300 yards (270 m) south of the U.S. border with Quebec, Canada, and discharges at Long Island ...
, bridge = Charter Oak Bridge , bridge signs = , upstream =
Founders Bridge The Founders Bridge is one of the three highway bridges over the Connecticut River in Hartford, Connecticut. The steel stringer bridge carries the Route 2 expressway, and also crosses over Interstate 91 (which runs parallel to the river). the ...
, upstream signs = , downstream =
William H. Putnam Memorial Bridge The Putnam Bridge is a bridge in the state of Connecticut carrying the Route 3 (Connecticut), Route 3 Expressway over the Connecticut River, connecting Interstate 91 in Wethersfield, Connecticut, Wethersfield and Route 2 (Connecticut), Route 2 in ...
, downstream signs = Bridges completed in 1991 Transportation in Hartford, Connecticut Bridges over the Connecticut River Buildings and structures in Hartford, Connecticut Bridges in Hartford County, Connecticut Road bridges in Connecticut U.S. Route 5 Former toll bridges in Connecticut Buildings and structures in East Hartford, Connecticut 1991 establishments in Connecticut Bridges of the United States Numbered Highway System Steel bridges in the United States Plate girder bridges in the United States