A vertical-lift bridge or just lift bridge is a type of
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 ...
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
swing-span bridges. Generally speaking, they cost less to build for longer moveable spans. The counterweights in a vertical lift are only required to be equal to the weight of the deck, whereas bascule bridge counterweights must weigh several times as much as the span being lifted. As a result, heavier materials can be used in the deck, and so this type of bridge is especially suited for heavy railroad use. The biggest disadvantage to the vertical-lift bridge (in comparison with many other designs) is the height restriction for vessels passing under it, due to the deck remaining suspended above the passageway.
Most vertical-lift bridges use towers, each equipped with counterweights. An example of this kind
was built in Portland, Oregon, United States in 1912.
Another design uses balance beams to lift the deck, with pivoting bascules located on the top of the lift towers.
[Troyano (2003), p.732]
Examples
See
List of vertical-lift bridges.
Gallery of images
Image: Weeks 533 under Wards Is Bridge jeh.jpg, The Wards Island Bridge
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in New York City
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over the Harlem River
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The northern stretch, also called the Spuyten Duyvi ...
Image:Hefbrug over de Gouwe bij Alphen aan den Rijn.jpg, One of the vertical-lift bridges over the Gouwe River, built in 1930
Image:Asb-bridge.jpg, ASB Bridge in Kansas City, Missouri
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Image:Arthur Kill Lift Bridge by Dave Frieder.jpg, Arthur Kill Vertical Lift Bridge has the longest lift span of any vertical-lift bridge in the world
File:Hawthorne Bridge (Portland, Oregon) from southwest, 2012.jpg, Hawthorne Bridge (in Portland, Oregon, U.S.), built in 1910, the oldest vertical-lift bridge in the United StatesPort Colborne
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, Ontario
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File:Ponto do Guaíba Aérea.jpg, Guaiba Bridge, which crosses Lake Guaíba, in Porto Alegre
Porto Alegre (, ; , ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian Federative units of Brazil, state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of roughly 1.4 million inhabitants (2022) makes it the List of largest cities in Brazil, 11th-most p ...
, Brazil
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File:ErieCanalExchangeSt1.jpg, A lift bridge over the Erie Canal
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at Lockport, New York
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File:ErieCanalExchangeStBr2.jpg, A lift bridge, elevated at both ends
File:ErieCanal.jpg, A lift bridge near its upward position, pedestrians may cross when it is raised by using stairways
File:2021 Nowa Sól bridge.jpg, Small lift bridge in Nowa Sól, Poland
File:Portage Lake Lift Bridge 2020-08-31.jpg, Portage Lake Lift Bridge linking Houghton, Michigan
Houghton (; ) is the largest city and county seat of Houghton County, Michigan, Houghton County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Located on the Keweenaw Peninsula, Houghton is the largest city in the Copper Country region. It is the fifth-larges ...
to Hancock, Michigan
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File:VR Sr1 3015 Kuopio Drawbridge.jpg, An Sr1 locomotive pulling lumber across a lift bridge north of Kuopio railway station in Finland
Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
See also
*
Moveable bridges
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 ...
for a list of other movable bridge types
*
Submersible bridge
A submersible bridge is a type of movable bridge that lowers the bridge deck below the water level to permit waterborne traffic to use the waterway. This differs from a lift bridge or table bridge, which operate by raising the roadway. Two sub ...
for a similar disappearing bridge
*
Table bridge
A table bridge is a moveable bridge in which the deck moves vertically. Two or four hydraulic pillars under the bridge, one or two at each end, raise the bridge deck to allow boat traffic to pass beneath it. In contrast to a lift bridge, where t ...
for a vertical-lift bridge without visible lifting means
References
Bibliography
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External links
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{{Bridge footer
Bridges by structural type
it:Ponte#Ponte sollevabile