The Dunn Memorial Bridge, officially known as the Private Parker F. Dunn Memorial Bridge, carries

US 9 U.S. Route 9 (US 9) is a north–south United States highway in the states of Delaware, New Jersey, and New York in the Northeastern United States. It is one of only two U.S. Highways with a ferry connection (the Cape May–Lewes Ferry, betwe ...

and

US 20 U.S. Route 20 or U.S. Highway 20 (US 20) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway that stretches from the Pacific Northwest east to New England. The "0" in its route number indicates that US 20 is a major coast-to-coast route. S ...

across the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

between

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...

and

Rensselaer, New York Rensselaer is a city in Rensselaer County, New York, United States, and is located on the east side of the Hudson River, directly opposite of Albany. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 9,210. Rensselaer is on the western border of ...

Description

Completed in 1969 to replace an earlier span bearing the same name, the highway bridge has a

steel girder A girder () is a support beam used in construction. It is the main horizontal support of a structure which supports smaller beams. Girders often have an I-beam cross section composed of two load-bearing ''flanges'' separated by a stabilizing ' ...

design. It is the southernmost toll-free road crossing of the Hudson. It is named for Parker F. Dunn, an Albany native who was posthumously awarded the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. ...

for his service in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. While traveling eastbound on the Dunn Memorial Bridge towards the City of Rensselaer, there is a noticeable stub where the road ends and traffic is "forced off" the bridge onto offramps for US Routes 9 and 20. The road was originally supposed to continue on as part of the canceled South Mall Expressway to

Interstate 90 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain West, Great Plains, Midwest, and ...

at present day Exit 8. Rensselaer's Riverfront Park is located under the eastern end of the bridge.

Peregrine falcon The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known as the peregrine, and historically as the duck hawk in North America, is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan bird of prey (Bird of prey, raptor) in the family (biology), family Falco ...

s have been observed nesting under the roadway since 1998, and the

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (informally referred to as NYSDEC, DEC, EnCon or NYSENCON) is a department of New York state government. The department guides and regulates the conservation, improvement, and protection ...

set up a

webcam A webcam is a video camera which is designed to record or stream to a computer or computer network. They are primarily used in videotelephony, livestreaming and social media, and security. Webcams can be built-in computer hardware or peripheral d ...

to monitor them. On July 27, 2005, the bridge was temporarily closed when a ramp leading to the

Empire State Plaza The Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza (known commonly as the Empire State Plaza, and also as the South Mall) is a complex of several state government buildings in downtown Albany, New York. The complex was built between 1965 a ...

split vertically, causing the roadbed to drop more than a foot. A section of the ramp, which at tall is the uppermost one connecting to the bridge, had slipped and come to rest on a concrete supporting pier. The Department of Transportation was alerted to the situation by a call from a commuter who had driven over the gap. Two steel towers were installed to support the ramp and it was later repaired. On March 25, 2014, a man jumped off the bridge following a police chase in connection with a shooting the previous night. The man survived and was evacuated via ambulance.

Bicycle and pedestrian access

Bicyclists and pedestrians may use the sidewalk along the north side of the bridge.

Gallery

Image:Steamboat Square Albany, New York.jpg, The Greenbush Bridge can be seen in the background of this image, which preceded the Dunn Memorial Bridge. Image:Dunn Memorial Bridge stub end.jpg, The stubs at the bridge's eastern end, built for the canceled South Mall Expressway. Image:Dunn Memorial Bridge Cross-section.jpg, This is a cross section of the unfinished eastern portion of one of the sides of the Dunn Memorial Bridge. Image:Dunn Memorial Bridge Supports.jpg, The supports for the unfinished end of the Dunn Memorial Bridge. Image:Dunn Memorial Bridge Surface and Structure.jpg, The surface and structure of the unfinished end of the Dunn Memorial Bridge. Image:Dunn Memorial Bridge Overview.jpg, The Dunn Memorial Bridge from the unfinished Rensselaer, NY side heading to Albany, NY.

References

External links

*
Dunn Memorial Bridge
a

Dunn Memorial Bridge
at

Everything2 Everything2 (styled Everything2 or E2 for short) is a collaborative Web-based community consisting of a database of interlinked user-submitted written material. E2 is moderated for quality, but has no formal policy on subject matter. Writing on ...

*
"Damage shuts down Dunn Memorial Bridge"
at WNYT
Peregrine Falcons in Albany

YouTube video of driving over the bridge

{{Crossings navbox , structure = Crossings , place =

, bridge = Dunn Memorial Bridge , bridge signs = , upstream =

Maiden Lane Bridge The Maiden Lane Bridge was a railroad bridge across the Hudson River between the city of Albany and Rensselaer County, New York. It was designed by Kellogg, Clark & Co., and was one of the largest bridges they designed. The bridge was owned and ...

(demolished) , upstream signs = , downstream = Castleton Bridge , downstream signs = Bridges completed in 1969 Bridges over the Hudson River Buildings and structures in Albany, New York Bridges in Rensselaer County, New York Monuments and memorials in New York (state) Road bridges in New York (state) Bridges in Albany County, New York Transportation in Albany, New York U.S. Route 20 U.S. Route 9 Unfinished buildings and structures in the United States Bridges of the United States Numbered Highway System Girder bridges in the United States Steel bridges in the United States 1969 establishments in New York (state)

Description

Bicycle and pedestrian access

Gallery

See also

References

External links