The Little Bay Bridge, or Little Bay Bridges, are a pair of four-lane

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 ...

s that carry a

concurrency Concurrent means happening at the same time. Concurrency, concurrent, or concurrence may refer to: Law * Concurrence, in jurisprudence, the need to prove both ''actus reus'' and ''mens rea'' * Concurring opinion (also called a "concurrence"), a ...

U.S. Route 4 U.S. Route 4 (US 4) is a long United States highway that runs from East Greenbush, New York, in the west to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in the east, traversing Vermont. In New York, US 4 is signed North-South to reflect its alignment in the s ...

NH Route 16 New Hampshire Route 16 (NH 16) is a , north–south state highway in New Hampshire, United States, the main road connecting the Seacoast region to the Lakes Region and the White Mountains. Much of its length is close to the border with Maine. ...

, and the

Spaulding Turnpike The Spaulding Turnpike is a north-south toll road in eastern New Hampshire. Nearly its entire length is overlapped by New Hampshire Route 16. Its southern terminus is at the Portsmouth Traffic Circle (Interstate 95 / U.S. Route 1 Bypass) in Port ...

across the mouth of

Little Bay Little Bay is a suburb in south-eastern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Little Bay is located 14 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the City of Randwic ...

where it meets the

Piscataqua River The Piscataqua River (Abenaki: ''Pskehtekwis'') is a tidal river forming the boundary of the U.S. states of New Hampshire and Maine from its origin at the confluence of the Salmon Falls River and Cochecho River. The drainage basin of the river ...

, between the city of

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

and the town of Newington in

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

. As of August 2019, the bridges carry seven motor vehicle lanes with four shoulders, and one non-motorized multi-use path while the General Sullivan Bridge is closed.

Capt. John F. Rowe Bridge

The first Little Bay Bridge, which consists of a pair of two-lane spans, is officially the Capt. John F. Rowe Bridge. Its first span was opened in 1966 and originally carried northbound traffic, with southbound traffic utilizing the parallel General Sullivan Bridge, which had been completed in 1934. The second span of the Rowe bridge was opened in 1984. At that time, the General Sullivan Bridge was permanently closed to vehicle traffic, southbound traffic was moved to the 1966 span of the Rowe bridge, and the 1984 span of the Rowe bridge was used for northbound traffic. A second Little Bay Bridge was completed in 2013, with traffic shifted to it so the Rowe bridge could be closed for renovations. Renovations were completed in November 2015, although the Rowe bridge remained closed for several years due to significant realignment work on the nearby

interchange. Northbound traffic returned to the Rowe bridge in December 2018. Northbound traffic may eventually be expanded to use four lanes of the Rowe bridge; the third northbound lane was opened on May 23, 2019, and a temporary non-motorized multi-use path on the northbound shoulder was opened in August 2019.

Ruth L. Griffin Bridge

Little_Bay_and_General_Sullivan_Bridges_02

The second Little Bay Bridge, with a capacity of four traffic lanes, is officially the Ruth L. Griffin Bridge, named for a 20-year member of the

Executive Council of New Hampshire The Executive Council of the State of New Hampshire (commonly known as the Governor's Council) is the executive body of the U.S. state of New Hampshire. The Executive Council advises the Governor on all matters and provides a check on the governor ...

. It was built to temporarily ease traffic congestion across the Rowe bridge, and was completed in November 2013. It is physically located between the Rowe bridge and the General Sullivan Bridge. Once the Griffin bridge was completed, all traffic from the Rowe bridge was moved to it, so the Rowe bridge could be closed for renovations. The Griffin bridge continued to handle all traffic for several years due to realignment of the nearby U.S. Route 4 interchange. Northbound traffic returned to the Rowe bridge in December 2018. All four lanes of the Griffin bridge were opened to southbound traffic on July 20, 2019. A new merge pattern just north of the bridge, better enabling traffic from U.S. Route 4 and the

to utilize the four southbound lanes, went into effect in April 2020.

General Sullivan Bridge

The General Sullivan Bridge is a

deck 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 s ...

, with a through truss span to accommodate ship traffic, that formerly carried the roads that now travel over the Little Bay Bridges. The bridge was named for John Sullivan, a Revolutionary War

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Governor of New Hampshire The governor of New Hampshire is the head of government of New Hampshire. The governor is elected during the biennial state general election in November of even-numbered years. New Hampshire is one of only two states, along with bordering Verm ...

, and delegate to the

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislative bodies, with some executive function, for thirteen of Britain's colonies in North America, and the newly declared United States just before, during, and after the American Revolutionary War. ...

, who was from nearby Somersworth. Little Bay had previously been spanned by a railroad and automobile bridge, which had been completed in December 1873 and began carrying rail traffic in February 1874; after 60 years of service, it was dismantled in February 1935. Its abutments were located approximately north of the General Sullivan Bridge. Near the Newington-side abutment, the 1873-constructed

Newington Railroad Depot The Newington Railroad Depot is a historic railroad station on Bloody Point Road in Newington, New Hampshire. Built in 1873, it is an unusual railroad-related structure, serving as a passenger and freight depot, and as the residence of the station ...

still stands. The General Sullivan Bridge was completed in 1934, and dedicated on September 5 that year. Constructed at a cost of $1 million, it was a

toll bridge A toll bridge is a bridge where a monetary charge (or ''toll'') is required to pass over. Generally the private or public owner, builder and maintainer of the bridge uses the toll to recoup their investment, in much the same way as a toll road. ...

for its first 15 years of use, with the tolls being abolished on November 1, 1949. The bridge has been closed to vehicular traffic since the opening of the second span of the Rowe bridge in 1984. After being closed to vehicular traffic, the General Sullivan Bridge was used by pedestrians and cyclists, as the Little Bay Bridges did not have facilities for foot traffic. The bridge had long been a popular fishing spot. In 2010 and 2015, fencing was installed to limit access to specific areas of the bridge, due to deteriorating conditions. In September 2018, the bridge was permanently closed to pedestrians and cyclists, due to a lack of maintenance causing unsafe conditions.

In popular culture

The General Sullivan Bridge, although it was not named, appeared in a 1997 episode of '' WWF Monday Night Raw'', when

Steve Austin Steve Austin (born Steven James Anderson; December 18, 1964), better known by his ring name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, is an American media personality, actor, and retired professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most ...

threw the

WWE Intercontinental Championship The WWE Intercontinental Championship is a professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE, currently defended on the SmackDown brand division. It is one of two secondary championships for WWE's main roster ...

belt Belt may refer to: Apparel * Belt (clothing), a leather or fabric band worn around the waist * Championship belt, a type of trophy used primarily in combat sports * Colored belts, such as a black belt or red belt, worn by martial arts practit ...

(then belonging to The Rock) into the river below.

Future plans

While the General Sullivan Bridge "is nationally significant... as an early and highly influential example of continuous truss highway design in the United States", its future is uncertain. The

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to ...

regards it as a navigation hazard and favors its removal. Bridge proponents cite its eligibility for listing on 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 v ...

. As of July 2018, restored pedestrian and bicycle access to the bridge was planned for the summer of 2022. As of January 2020, "the state’s plan now is to build a new bridge on the existing

pier image:Brighton Pier, Brighton, East Sussex, England-2Oct2011 (1).jpg, Seaside pleasure pier in Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th century. A pier is a raised structure that rises above a body of ...

s". The new bridge would be a multi-use path.

Photographs

Capt. John F. Rowe Bridge

File:Little Bay Bridges 03.jpg, Dover-side abutment of the bridge File:Little Bay Bridges 04.jpg, View of the underside of the bridge, showing the dual two-lane spans

General Sullivan Bridge

File:General Sullivan Bridge 01.jpg, The bridge as seen from Hilton Park on Dover Point File:General Sullivan Bridge 03.JPG, The bridge as seen from Wagon Hill Park in nearby

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county *Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in No ...

File:General Sullivan Bridge 02.jpg, Plaque on the bridge which reads "U.S. Public Works Project Docket No. 752"

References

External links

Spaulding Turnpike Newington-Dover
Project Website by

NHDOT The New Hampshire Department of Transportation (NHDOT) is a government agency of the U.S. state of New Hampshire. The Commissioner of NHDOT is Victoria Sheehan. The main office of the NHDOT is located in the J. O. Morton Building in Concord. F ...

{{Crossings navbox , structure = Bridges , place =

, bridge = Little Bay Bridge , bridge signs =
General Sullivan Bridge , upstream =

Cocheco River The Cochecho River (incorrectly Cocheco River) is a tributary of the Piscataqua River, long, in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. It rises in northern Strafford County and runs southeastward, through the town of Farmington and the cities of Roches ...

Salmon Falls River The Salmon Falls River is a tributary of the Piscataqua River in the U.S. states of Maine and New Hampshire. It rises at Great East Lake, Newichawannock Canal, and Horn Pond and flows south-southeast for approximately , forming the border between ...

Great Bay , upstream signs = , downstream =

Piscataqua River Bridge The Piscataqua River Bridge is a through arch bridge that crosses the Piscataqua River, connecting Portsmouth, New Hampshire with Kittery, Maine. Carrying six lanes of Interstate 95, the bridge is the third modern span and first fixed crossing of ...

, downstream signs = Bridges completed in 1966 Bridges completed in 1984 Bridges in Rockingham County, New Hampshire Bridges in Strafford County, New Hampshire Road bridges in New Hampshire Buildings and structures in Dover, New Hampshire Newington, New Hampshire U.S. Route 4 Bridges of the United States Numbered Highway System Girder bridges in the United States

Capt. John F. Rowe Bridge

Ruth L. Griffin Bridge

General Sullivan Bridge

In popular culture

Future plans

Photographs

Capt. John F. Rowe Bridge

General Sullivan Bridge

See also

References

Further reading

External links