Skip to main content

Green Island Bridge - Troy and Green Island, New York

Image
By

One of the more aesthetically interesting bridges on the Hudson River, the Green Island Bridge which links the city of Troy, New York with the neighboring village of Green Island by way of Center Island. The only lift bridge located on the Hudson River, it could be considered to be the signature bridge for the Hudson River north of Albany. But as enduring of a symbol that the 630 foot long Green Island Bridge is for the local area, it is not the original bridge at this location.

Initially, there was a rail crossing where the Green Island Bridge stands today. The original bridge was a covered bridge built in 1832 and served the Rensselaer and Saratoga Railroad. In 1862, the bridge caught fire from the sparks of a passing locomotive and soon fell into the Hudson River. Parts of the burning structure, put the steamboats and smaller watercraft docked along the wharves in peril. The devastating fire also consumed more than 500 buildings covering 75 acres in downtown Troy.

This bridge was replaced by a second wooden bridge, which was in use until 1884, when a steel railroad bridge replaced the second wooden bridge. The steel bridge was essentially two parallel bridges owned by the Delaware and Hudson Railroad. When rail service ended in Troy in 1963, the bridge was converted for the use of automobile traffic. Until then the northern span was a rail bridge, and the southern span was a toll bridge for cars, trolleys, and pedestrians. This edition of the Green Island Bridge had a lift span added in 1924 for river shipping, useful as the Hudson River is a tidal estuary as far north as the Troy Federal Lock and Dam about a mile north of the Green Island Bridge.

On March 15, 1977, the collapse of the old Green Island Bridge had occurred due to flooding caused by 2.7 inches of heavy weekend rains, coupled with melting snows and heavy runoff that often occurs in March. Scour induced by the flood undermined the lift span pier, causing the western lift tower and roadbed span of the bridge to collapse into the Hudson River.. At about 2:25 pm that day, a few people heard loud noises and realizing that the bridge was collapsing, sprung into action. They quickly stopped traffic from going on the bridge and were credited with saving many lives. Soon afterward, one span fell off and collapsed into the Hudson River. Around 7:00pm that same evening, the 85 foot west lift tower and roadbed span collapsed into the river as well. Fortunately, nobody was hurt as the bridge carried over 22,000 vehicles per day at that time, including many employees of the nearby Ford plant that was operating in Green Island at the time.

The collapse of the old Green Island Bridge affected life in both Green Island and Troy for several years as Green Island isolated from downtown Troy. Construction on the present Green Island Bridge began in 1978 and was opened on September 1981 and it cost $23 million to build. During the same time frame, and perhaps as a result of the collapse of the Green Island Bridge, the nearby Collar City Bridge carrying NY 7 across the Hudson River, was also constructed.

Today, the new Green Island Bridge blends very well into the landscape of downtown Troy. A number of riverside restaurants offer great views of the bridge and at the time of this article, there is a riverside walking trail being constructed that will afford some nice views of the bridge. The greater community has also rallied behind the Green Island Bridge as well. There was a mural painted underneath the Green Island Bridge on TroyBot, an imagined version of the Green Island Bridge that transforms into a giant robot. This mural depicts TroyBot helping the City of Troy following a devastating storm.










How to Get There:



Sources and Links:

Green Island Bridge - Bridgehunter.com
Green Island Bridge (old) - Bridgehunter.com
Troy Green Island Bridge - A Postcard History Of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute - Troy, NY
Recalling bridge collapse 30 years later - Troy Record
40 Years Ago Today... Green Island Bridge Collapse - Village of Green Island



Labels:
Location: Green Island Bridge, Green Island Bridge, Troy, NY 12180, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Old NY 10 and Goodman Mountain in the Adirondacks

By
  Old highway alignments come in all shapes and sizes, as well as taking some different forms after their lifespan of serving cars and trucks has ended. In the case of an old alignment of what was NY 10 south of Tupper Lake, New York, part of the old road was turned into part of a hiking trail to go up Goodman Mountain. At one time, the road passed by Goodman Mountain to the east, or Litchfield Mountain as it was known at the time. As the years passed, sometime around 1960, the part of NY 10 north of Speculator became part of NY 30, and remains that way today from Speculator, past Indian Lake and Tupper Lake and up to the Canadian Border. At one time, the highway was realigned to pass the Goodman Mountain to the west, leaving this stretch of road to be mostly forgotten and to be reclaimed by nature. During the summer of 2014, a 1.6 mile long hiking trail was approved the Adirondack Park Agency to be constructed to the summit of the 2,176 foot high Goodman Mountain. For the first 0.9 mi
1 comment
Read more

Ghost Town Tuesday; Vineland, Florida; the town killed by Disney

By
Vineland is a small ghost town located in southwest Orange County, Florida near the junction of Florida State Road 535 and Interstate 4.  Vineland is somewhat unique due to it largely being squeezed out of existence by Lake Buena Vista which is the company town where Disney World is located. Vineland was founded in the late 1800s as Englewood.  The town name of Englewood changed to Orange Center in 1911 before finally assuming the name Vineland in 1924.  Much like the rest of Orange County the community of Vineland was centered around Citrus Grove.  In the case of Vineland said orange groves were centered around Ruby Lake. The end of Vineland came as the Disney Corporation began purchasing parcels of citrus grove land to build Lake Buena Vista.  Vineland fell into a sharp decline in the 1960s but the community managed to continue to exist to modern times.  Much of the street grid of Vineland still exists east of FL 535 but most of the original structures are either gone or falle
1 comment
Read more

Oregon State Highway 58

By
  Also known as the Willamette Highway No. 18, the route of Oregon State Highway 58 (OR 58) stretches some 86 miles between US 97 north of Chemult and I-5 just outside of Eugene, Oregon. A main route between the Willamette Valley region of Oregon with Central Oregon and Crater Lake National Park, the highway follows the Middle Fork Willamette River and Salt Creek for much of its route as it makes its way to and across the Cascades, cresting at 5,138 feet above sea level at Willamette Pass. That is a gain of over 4,500 in elevation from where the highway begins at I-5. The upper reaches of OR 58 are dominated by the principal pinnacle that can sometimes be seen from the highway, Diamond Peak, and three nearby lakes, Crescent, Odell and Waldo (Oregon's second largest lake). OR 58 is chock full of rivers, creeks, mountain views, hot springs and waterfalls within a short distance from the highway. OR 58 was numbered as such by the Oregon State Highway Department in 1940. OR 58 is a del
Post a Comment
Read more