The Omega Pond Railroad Bridge is a

railroad bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

spanning the western end of Omega Pond in East Providence,

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

. The bridge is a

contributing structure In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...

to the

Phillipsdale Historic District The Phillipsdale Historic District encompasses a historic mill village along the Seekonk River in East Providence, Rhode Island. The village grew up around the Richmond Paper Company Mill Complex, built 1883-1887, which is separately listed on ...

listed 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 ...

. The bridge uses a double-intersection

Warren truss Warren Errol Truss, (born 8 October 1948) is a former Australian politician who served as the 16th Deputy Prime Minister of Australia and Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development in the Abbott Government and the Turnbull Governm ...

design with vertical sub-struts, extending only half the height of the truss panels, that provide additional strength and rigidity. There is a single set of tracks running over the bridge, which was originally built for two tracks, along with a deteriorating wooden walkway. The bridge's

masonry Masonry is the building of structures from individual units, which are often laid in and bound together by mortar; the term ''masonry'' can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are bricks, building ...

abutments An abutment is the substructure at the ends of a bridge span or dam supporting its superstructure. Single-span bridges have abutments at each end which provide vertical and lateral support for the span, as well as acting as retaining walls ...

are integrated with the adjacent

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, a ...

, the

crest Crest or CREST may refer to: Buildings *The Crest (Huntington, New York), a historic house in Suffolk County, New York *"The Crest", an alternate name for 63 Wall Street, in Manhattan, New York *Crest Castle (Château Du Crest), Jussy, Switzerla ...

of which is located approximately upstream from the bridge. The bridge was built in 1918 by the

New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , commonly known as The Consolidated, or simply as the New Haven, was a railroad that operated in the New England region of the United States from 1872 to December 31, 1968. Founded by the merger of ...

to replace a

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 ...

built in 1874 by the

Providence and Worcester Railroad The Providence and Worcester Railroad is a Class II railroad operating of tracks in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, as well as New York via trackage rights. The company was founded in 1844 to build a railroad between Providence ...

on its East Providence Branch. It is still used for freight service by the modern incarnation of the Providence and Worcester Railroad.

References

External links

P&W train crossing bridgeUnderside of the bridge showing the dam
Railroad bridges in Rhode Island Bridges in Providence County, Rhode Island Bridges completed in 1918 1918 establishments in Rhode Island Warren truss bridges in the United States Steel bridges in the United States Providence and Worcester Railroad {{RhodeIsland-bridge-struct-stub

See also

References

External links