The Point Street Bridge is a

movable bridge A moveable bridge, or movable bridge, is a bridge that moves to allow passage for boats or barges. In American English, the term is synonymous with , and the latter is the common term, but drawbridge can be limited to the narrower, historical d ...

that crosses the

Providence River The Providence River is a tidal river in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. It flows approximately 8 miles (13 km). There are no dams along the river's length, although the Fox Point Hurricane Barrier is located south of downtown to protect th ...

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

, carrying Point Street from the Jewelry District to

Wickenden Street Wickenden Street in Fox Point, Providence, Rhode Island is a popular destination for students of the area's colleges and schools. The street is surrounded by schools and universities on the East Side of Providence's College Hill, including ...

at the base of College Hill.

History

The first

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 ...

at this site was built in 1872. It consisted of a swing span in length with two shore spans. In 1907, each of the approach spans was divided into three plate-girder spans carried on new

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

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 and

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 ...

. However, funding was insufficient to replace the swing span, so its length was merely increased to . Point Street Bridge - Rhode Island - NARA - 68158654 (cropped)

Point Street Bridge - Rhode Island - NARA - 68158654 (cropped)

The current

is the third at this site. It is also a

swing bridge A swing bridge (or swing span bridge) is a movable bridge that has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its center of gravity, about which the swing span (turning span) can then pi ...

and was built by the Boston Bridge Works in 1927. The bridge is no longer moveable but fixed in place to allow Point Street traffic to cross. It was last swung open in 1959. The

Fox Point Hurricane Barrier The Fox Point Hurricane Barrier is a long tidal flood barrier spanning the Providence River in Providence, Rhode Island, located upstream from Fox Point. It was constructed between 1960 and 1966 to protect the low-lying downtown area of the city ...

, downstream of the Point Street Bridge and completed in 1966, rendered the swing feature of little value, because the Barrier blocks large vessels from traveling upstream before the bridge would. After WW-II, Route 1A became a major route carrying traffic from southern RI to the East Side of Providence, and points east. The Point Street Bridge was part of that route, and on exceptionally hot summer days, the bridge would expand after it opened, and with nowhere to bleed off the heat, it expanded to a point where it couldn't be closed. Traffic built up for several miles and fire tankers had to be summoned to shoot water on the bridge until it shrunk back to a size (only an inch or two) so it could be closed and let traffic resume. Bicycle lane markings were added to the bridge as part of the city's 2013 Bicycle Master Plan.

References

External links

A previou
Point Street Bridge
from the Providence Public Library's Digital Collections Article containing a photograph of the previou
Point Street Bridge
from the

Providence Journal ''The Providence Journal'', colloquially known as the ''ProJo'', is a daily newspaper serving the metropolitan area of Providence, Rhode Island, and is the largest newspaper in Rhode Island. The newspaper was first published in 1829. The newspape ...

Swing bridges in the United States Bridges in Providence County, Rhode Island Road bridges in Rhode Island Bridges completed in 1927 1927 establishments in Rhode Island Steel bridges in the United States {{RhodeIsland-bridge-struct-stub

History

See also

References

External links