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| Former bridges in the United States | |
|---|---|
| Name | Former bridges in the United States |
| Country | United States |
| Status | Former |
Former bridges in the United States
Former bridges in the United States encompass a wide array of infrastructure that once carried transportation across waterways, valleys, and urban gaps, later removed, demolished, replaced, or relocated. These structures intersect with the histories of civil engineering firms, railroads, highways, and municipal developments tied to entities such as the Army Corps of Engineers, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and state departments of transportation like California Department of Transportation and New York State Department of Transportation.
A former bridge is a structure previously serving as a crossing that has been taken out of service, dismantled, or relocated, often associated with agencies such as the Federal Highway Administration, the National Park Service, and local authorities like the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (New York) or the Chicago Transit Authority. Examples include removals coordinated with the National Historic Preservation Act, projects involving firms such as American Bridge Company or Bethlehem Steel, and cases overseen by courts like the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Former bridges figure in records maintained by institutions like the Library of Congress and the Historic American Engineering Record.
Bridge construction and subsequent removal in the United States trace through eras marked by innovations from firms like Gustav Lindenthal's projects, the rise of Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, the boom of Interstate Highway System construction under Dwight D. Eisenhower, and later urban renewal programs influenced by planners associated with the Urban Mass Transportation Administration and figures such as Robert Moses. The 19th-century era saw timber truss and covered bridges linked to communities along the Erie Canal and the Mississippi River, while the early 20th century featured steel cantilevers and suspension spans by engineers who collaborated with universities like Massachusetts Institute of Technology and University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign. Mid-20th-century removals correspond with projects like the construction of Hoover Dam-era diversions, the expansion of the Pennsylvania Railroad corridor, and postwar highway realignments tied to the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956.
Prominent examples include the replacement of the Tappan Zee Bridge with the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge, the demolition of the original Brooklyn Bridge-era approaches and related Manhattan Bridge modifications affecting New York City Department of Transportation, the removal of the Algiers Ferry-era spans, and the dismantling of the Fort Point Channel crossings in Boston. Other cases involve the razing of multiple iterations of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge and replacement work tied to the Washington State Department of Transportation, the removal of the Astoria–Megler Bridge temporary structures, and the clearance of the Sixth Street Viaduct in Los Angeles for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority-led project. Railroad-related removals include dismantling of High Line (Manhattan) predecessors, conversions around the Penn Station (New York City) complex, and elimination of obsolete trestles used by the Union Pacific Railroad and the Southern Pacific Transportation Company.
Removals often result from factors involving agencies like the Federal Emergency Management Agency after disasters, engineering assessments by the American Society of Civil Engineers, or directives under the National Environmental Policy Act when environmental mitigation is required. Causes include structural failure such as in the case of franchises linked to Great Depression-era underfunding, obsolescence during Interstate 80 upgrades, navigational hazards on waterways policed by the United States Coast Guard, and redevelopment initiatives by municipal bodies like the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Demolition methods range from controlled explosives coordinated with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations, to sectional dismantling by contractors like Kiewit Corporation, to relocation projects overseen by preservationists working with the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Preservation and documentation often involve partnerships among the Historic American Buildings Survey, the Historic American Engineering Record, state historic preservation offices, and nonprofit groups such as the Preservation League of New York State and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Notable relocation efforts include moves akin to the transfer of the London Bridge (relocated) model in the United States context, adaptive reuse exemplified by the conversion of rail viaducts into parks inspired by the High Line initiative, and archival recording by the Library of Congress and university archives at institutions like the University of California, Berkeley.
The removal of bridges has reshaped modal networks managed by authorities like the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (New York), the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and regional planning bodies such as the Northeast Corridor Commission. Impacts include altered freight patterns affecting the BNSF Railway and the Norfolk Southern Railway, changed commuter flows tied to projects by Sound Transit and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, and redevelopment opportunities leveraged by municipal agencies in cities like Seattle, Chicago, and Philadelphia.
Northeast examples feature the replacement of the Tappan Zee Bridge across the Hudson River and alterations around Boston's harbor channels; Mid-Atlantic cases include Manhattan approach removals affecting Hudson River Park and projects involving the New Jersey Department of Transportation. In the Midwest, Ohio and Illinois saw removal of historic truss spans associated with the Ohio River and the Chicago River; Southern instances include bridge replacements following hurricane damage coordinated with the Federal Emergency Management Agency in states like Louisiana and Florida. Western case studies cover the collapse and replacement history of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in Washington (state) and seismic retrofit-driven removals in California overseen by the California Geological Survey and Caltrans.
Category:Bridges in the United States Category:Demolished buildings and structures in the United States