Canalside Rail Trail Bridge

The Canalside Rail Trail Bridge (also known as the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad (Turners Falls Branch) Bridge) is a former New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad (Turner Falls Branch) rail bridge across the Connecticut River between
Deerfield and Montague, Massachusetts. The bridge (Massachusetts numbers: D06033/M28019) is on the Massachusetts Historic Bridge Inventory as a "Historic Metal Truss Bridge", currently the sixth oldest metal truss bridge on the state-wide historic registry. The Canalside Rail Trail, completed in Spring 2008, incorporates this bridge.

History and construction of the bridge

Originally built in 1880 by Keystone Bridge Co., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, two of its three spans were knocked off their piers by the floating Montague City Covered Bridge during the 1936 flood. Subsequently, those spans were rebuilt and replaced in 1936 by the Phoenix Bridge Company, Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. The remaining span of the original bridge is the oldest surviving span across the Connecticut River. The older span is a Whipple truss design. The newer spans use a modified Warren truss design (vertical truss members are added to the traditional form of a Warren truss).

The bridge was refurbished in 2006 to be part of the new Canalside Rail Trail. However, though the bridge can now be used, the refurbishing is not complete as of July 2007. The western pier has some stones out of place and some stones fallen off. There is currently work going on to fix this issue.

Image gallery

Image:IMG 3960 looking along the newly refurbished bridge.jpg, Looking west along the length of the bridge from the eastern end, you can see the newly constructed wooden bridge deck and the safety railings.
Image:IMG 3963 Phoenix Bridge Co. plate.jpg, This image shows the plate bolted to the western end of the first of the "new" spans put up in 1936.
Image:IMG 3971 Keystone Bridge Co plate.jpg, This image shows the plate put up by the Keystone Bridge Company on the one span of the bridge which is circa 1880.
Image:IMG 3978 bridge piers.jpg, This image shows the bridge piers, including some of the lesser damage sustained by the western pier.
Image:IMG 3980 temp road.jpg, Here is the temporary road being built so that repairs can be made to the western pier.
Image:IMG 3986 underside of the bridge.jpg, Underside of the rail bridge, showing the main deck supports
Image:IMG 3948 New York, New Hampshire, and Hartford rail bridge.jpg, The oldest span of the three, from the north

See also

* List of crossings of the Connecticut River

Notes

References

External links

University of New Hampshire Library topographical image circa 1894

{{Connecticut River

Bridges completed in 1880
Bridges in Franklin County, Massachusetts
Bridges over the Connecticut River
Montague, Massachusetts
Pedestrian bridges in Massachusetts
Rail trail bridges in the United States
Railroad bridges in Massachusetts
Iron bridges in the United States
Pratt truss bridges in the United States
Warren truss bridges in the United States