The Harlem River Lift Bridge (also known as the Park Avenue Bridge) is a

vertical lift bridge A vertical-lift bridge or just lift bridge is a type of movable bridge in which a span rises vertically while remaining parallel with the deck. The vertical lift offers several benefits over other movable bridges such as the bascule and swin ...

carrying the

Metro-North Railroad The Metro-North Commuter Railroad Company , also branded as MTA Metro-North Railroad and commonly called simply Metro-North, is a suburban commuter rail service operated by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), a New York State publ ...

's Hudson Line,

Harlem Line The Harlem Line is an commuter rail line owned and operated by the Metro-North Railroad in the U.S. state of New York. It runs north from New York City to Wassaic, in eastern Dutchess County. The lower from Grand Central Terminal to Southea ...

, and

New Haven Line The New Haven Line is a commuter rail line operated by the Metro-North Railroad in the U.S. states of New York (state), New York and Connecticut. Running from New Haven, Connecticut, to New York City, the New Haven Line joins the Harlem Line ...

across the

Harlem River The Harlem River is an tidal strait in New York City, flowing between the Hudson River and the East River and separating the island of Manhattan from the Bronx on the United States mainland. The northern stretch, also called the Spuyten Duyvi ...

between the

boroughs A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

and

the Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. The average weekday ridership on the lines is 265,000.Commuter Rail Transit Ridership Report First Quarter 2010, p. 5
,

American Public Transportation Association The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) is a nonprofit group of approximately 1,500 public and private sector member organizations that promotes and advocates for the interests of the public transportation industry in the United ...

, June 1, 2010. Accessed June 27, 2010.

History

First bridge

The first bridge on this site was constructed by the

New York and Harlem Railroad The New York and Harlem Railroad (now the Metro-North Railroad's Harlem Line) was one of the first railroads in the United States, and was the world's first street railway. Designed by John Stephenson, it was opened in stages between 1832 and ...

in 1841. It was composed of four -long

box truss A box (plural: boxes) is a container with rigid sides used for the storage or transportation of its contents. Most boxes have flat, parallel, rectangular sides (typically rectangular prisms). Boxes can be very small (like a matchbox) or very ...

spans, three of which were fixed iron spans, while the remaining span was a wooden swing span. In the closed position, the bridge had a clearance of only seven feet above the mean high water level. Masonry piers supported the four box-truss spans. In 1867, the wooden drawbridge was replaced with an iron one that gave a clearance of 50 feet. By the 1880s, the bridge was crossed by more than 200 trains a day.

Second and third bridges

The 1867 bridge was soon made obsolete by heavy traffic and dredging of the

Harlem River Ship Canal Spuyten Duyvil Creek () is a short tidal estuary in New York City connecting the Hudson River to the Harlem River Ship Canal and then on to the Harlem River. The confluence of the three water bodies separate the island of Manhattan from t ...

. In 1888, the

United States Department of War The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army, als ...

began work on the

to allow for unrestricted shipping activity between the Hudson River and the East River and through the new Harlem River Ship Canal at 225th Street. The New York Central was opposed to the project as the increase in river traffic would interfere with its rail line, which was only above the water. In 1890, the

New York and Northern Railway The New York and Putnam Railroad, nicknamed the Old Put, was a railroad line that opened in 1881 between the Bronx and Brewster in New York State. In 1894, it was acquired by the New York Central system along with the nearby Hudson River Railr ...

, a competitor of the New York Central which operated freight traffic to the Bronx shore which relied upon barges to ship its freight, complained to the Department of War about delays to its traffic due to the New York Central's low bridge. To remedy the situation, the Central could have raised the bridge to above the water to satisfy the Department of War, allowing most vessels to cross under the bridge, for $300,000 or replaced it with a tunnel to satisfy the Harlem community for $3 million. The railroad opted to raise the bridge, which was the only four-track drawbridge in the country at the time. Alfred P. Boller worked with the railroad to create the new four-tracked swing bridge. Due to political pressure, it had to raise the grade of its line north of 115th Street on a viaduct, raising the project's cost significantly. In 1892, a law was passed establishing the Board of Park Avenue Improvement. Under the terms of the law, New York City was to pay for half of the project, with the remainder paid for by the New York Central. The new bridge was to be -long and was built for about $500,000 by the King Bridge Company. The new bridge was to be higher than the old bridge, as mandated by the Federal Government, making it above the water. The Park Avenue Line's grade had to be raised to allow it to reach the higher bridge, and as a result, a new four-track steel viaduct was built between 132nd Street and 106th Street. During construction, trains were to run over a temporary wooden structure along with a temporary two-track wooden drawbridge. The cost of the entire project was to be $2 million. At the time, construction was expected to begin on September 1, 1893. The work was divided into four sections. The bridge's design was underway in 1894, and in February 1894, the project was expected to be completed in December 1895. Service continued to operate during a complex procedure involving the installation of temporary wooden trestles, trusses, and the installation of columns. On February 15, 1897, trains on the Harlem Division started running over the new drawbridge over the

and the elevated structure connecting to it. The Department of War ordered that the bridge cannot be opened during peak hours, between 7 and 10 a.m. and 4 and 7 p.m.

Current bridge

Between 1954 and 1956, the New York Central Railroad built a fourth rail bridge on this site, this time a

vertical-lift bridge A vertical-lift bridge or just lift bridge is a type of movable bridge in which a span rises vertically while remaining parallel with the deck. The vertical lift offers several benefits over other movable bridges such as the bascule and swi ...

, to replace the 1897 bridge. The new bridge opened in 1956. The four-track bridge remains in use today and consists of two parallel double-track spans, long. It has of clearance when closed and when open. In the 1960s, the bridge came under the ownership of several different companies, including

Penn Central Railroad The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American Railroad classes, class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976. Penn Central combined three traditional corporate rivals, the Pennsylvania Railroad, ...

. Metro-North operates it, referring to it as the Harlem River Lift Bridge.

References

External links

* {{Park Avenue Metro-North Railroad Bridges completed in 1956 Vertical lift bridges in New York City Bridges in the Bronx Railroad bridges in New York City New York Central Railroad bridges New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad bridges Bridges in Manhattan Bridges over the Harlem River Steel bridges in the United States