Henry Hudson Bridge
Encyclopedia
The Henry Hudson Bridge is a steel
arch
toll bridge
in New York City
across the Spuyten Duyvil Creek
. It connects the Spuyten Duyvil
section of The Bronx
with the northern end of Manhattan
to the south. On the Manhattan side, it touches Inwood Hill Park
. The bridge was designed by David B. Steinman
(in realization of his Ph.D.
thesis in civil engineering
at Columbia University
in 1911) and was the longest plate girder arch and fixed arch bridge in the world when it opened in 1936. The bridge was named to commemorate the voyage of Henry Hudson
on the Half Moon, which anchored near the site in 1609.
The bridge has two roadway levels carrying an aggregate of seven traffic lanes and a pedestrian walkway and spans Spuyten Duyvil Creek just east of where the tidal strait
meets the Hudson River
. The bridge is part of the Henry Hudson Parkway
placarded as New York State Route 9A
. To its west, at five feet above water level, is the Spuyten Duyvil Bridge
, which is used by Amtrak
trains heading to Albany, New York
and other points north. The Spuyten Duyvil Metro-North station
is located under Henry Hudson bridge on the Bronx side.
preferred the route along the Hudson River because he was able to receive the land to build the Henry Hudson Parkway at no cost and use federal labor to construct the parkway. The construction of the bridge helped open the Riverdale
neighborhood to development.
The original single-deck structure was built for the Henry Hudson Parkway Authority by the American Bridge Company
at a cost of $4,949,000 and opened to traffic on December 12, 1936. The upper level of the bridge was designed to be added at a later date and opened to traffic on May 7, 1938. The second deck was added an additional cost of approximately $2,000,000, after increasing toll revenues enabled its construction.
The bridge is owned by New York City
and operated by the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority
, an affiliate agency of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority
. A rehabilitation project commenced in 2000 and is being carried out by Steinman, Boynton, Gronquist and Birdsall a successor firm of Robinson & Steinman
, the firm that originally designed and engineered the bridge.
Since July 12, 2009, the crossing charge for a two-axle passenger vehicle has been $3.00 charged in each direction, with a $.91 discount for E-ZPass users. As of December 30, 2010, the toll changed to $4.00 in each direction, with a $1.80 discount for E-ZPass
users. About 75,000 vehicles per day use the bridge. Current traffic alignment is northbound on the three-lane upper deck and southbound on the four-lane lower deck.
In January 2010, the MTA announced that it is planning to implement a pilot program on the Henry Hudson Bridge to phase out toll booths and use open road tolling
. In January 20, 2011, this toll pilot project got underway. Drivers without E-ZPass would be sent a bill in the mail.
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
arch
Arch bridge
An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side...
toll bridge
Toll bridge
A toll bridge is a bridge over which traffic may pass upon payment of a toll, or fee.- History :The practice of collecting tolls on bridges probably harks back to the days of ferry crossings where people paid a fee to be ferried across stretches of water. As boats became impractical to carry large...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
across the Spuyten Duyvil Creek
Spuyten Duyvil Creek
Spuyten Duyvil Creek is a channel connecting the Hudson River to the Harlem River Ship Canal, and on to the Harlem River in New York City, separating the island of Manhattan from the Bronx and the rest of the mainland. The neighborhood named Spuyten Duyvil lies to the north of the creek.Spuyten...
. It connects the Spuyten Duyvil
Spuyten Duyvil, Bronx
Spuyten Duyvil is the name of a subsection of the Riverdale section of the Bronx in New York City. The area is named after Spuyten Duyvil Creek, a Dutch name with various historical spellings and meanings, the most plausible of which is "Spinning Devil", "Devil's Whirlpool", or "Devil's Spate"...
section of The Bronx
The Bronx
The Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City. It is also known as Bronx County, the last of the 62 counties of New York State to be incorporated...
with the northern end of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
to the south. On the Manhattan side, it touches Inwood Hill Park
Inwood Hill Park
Inwood Hill Park is a city-owned and maintained public park in Inwood, Upper Manhattan, New York City, operated by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. It stretches along the Hudson River from Dyckman Street to the northern tip of the island. Inwood Hill Park's densely folded,...
. The bridge was designed by David B. Steinman
David B. Steinman
David Bernard Steinman was an American structural engineer. He was the designer of the Mackinac Bridge and many other notable bridges, and a published author. He grew up in New York City's lower Manhattan, and lived with the ambition of making his mark on the Brooklyn Bridge that he lived under...
(in realization of his Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
thesis in civil engineering
Civil engineering
Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings...
at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
in 1911) and was the longest plate girder arch and fixed arch bridge in the world when it opened in 1936. The bridge was named to commemorate the voyage of Henry Hudson
Henry Hudson
Henry Hudson was an English sea explorer and navigator in the early 17th century. Hudson made two attempts on behalf of English merchants to find a prospective Northeast Passage to Cathay via a route above the Arctic Circle...
on the Half Moon, which anchored near the site in 1609.
The bridge has two roadway levels carrying an aggregate of seven traffic lanes and a pedestrian walkway and spans Spuyten Duyvil Creek just east of where the tidal strait
Strait
A strait or straits is a narrow, typically navigable channel of water that connects two larger, navigable bodies of water. It most commonly refers to a channel of water that lies between two land masses, but it may also refer to a navigable channel through a body of water that is otherwise not...
meets the Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
. The bridge is part of the Henry Hudson Parkway
Henry Hudson Parkway
The Henry Hudson Parkway is an long parkway in New York City. The southern terminus is at West 72nd Street in Manhattan, where the parkway continues south as the West Side Highway. It is often erroneously referred to as the West Side Highway throughout its entire course in Manhattan...
placarded as New York State Route 9A
New York State Route 9A
New York State Route 9A is a state highway in the vicinity of New York City, New York, United States. Its southern terminus is at the northern end of the Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel in New York City, where it intersects with both Interstate 478 and FDR Drive. The northern terminus of...
. To its west, at five feet above water level, is the Spuyten Duyvil Bridge
Spuyten Duyvil Bridge
The Spuyten Duyvil Bridge is a swing bridge that carries Amtrak's Empire Corridor line across the Spuyten Duyvil Creek between Manhattan and the Bronx, in New York City. The bridge is located at the northern tip of Manhattan where the Spuyten Duyvil Creek meets the Hudson River, approximately to...
, which is used by Amtrak
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
trains heading to Albany, New York
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
and other points north. The Spuyten Duyvil Metro-North station
Spuyten Duyvil (Metro-North station)
The Spuyten Duyvil Metro-North Railroad station serves the residents of the Spuyten Duyvil neighborhood of the Bronx, New York via the Hudson Line. Trains leave for New York City every 25 to 35 minutes on weekdays...
is located under Henry Hudson bridge on the Bronx side.
History
A bridge at this location was proposed as early as 1906, but Spuyten Duyvil residents and other civic groups opposed the bridge, arguing that it would destroy the virgin forest of Inwood Hill Park and bring traffic congestion to the communities on the Bronx side of the river. Meanwhile, Robert MosesRobert Moses
Robert Moses was the "master builder" of mid-20th century New York City, Long Island, Rockland County, and Westchester County, New York. As the shaper of a modern city, he is sometimes compared to Baron Haussmann of Second Empire Paris, and is one of the most polarizing figures in the history of...
preferred the route along the Hudson River because he was able to receive the land to build the Henry Hudson Parkway at no cost and use federal labor to construct the parkway. The construction of the bridge helped open the Riverdale
Riverdale, Bronx
Riverdale is an affluent residential neighborhood in the northwest portion of the Bronx in New York City. Riverdale contains the northernmost point in New York City.-History:...
neighborhood to development.
The original single-deck structure was built for the Henry Hudson Parkway Authority by the American Bridge Company
American Bridge Company
The American Bridge Company is a privately held civil engineering firm specializing in the construction and renovation of bridges and other large civil engineering projects, founded in 1900, and headquartered in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh.-Products and industry positioning:The...
at a cost of $4,949,000 and opened to traffic on December 12, 1936. The upper level of the bridge was designed to be added at a later date and opened to traffic on May 7, 1938. The second deck was added an additional cost of approximately $2,000,000, after increasing toll revenues enabled its construction.
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and operated by the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority
Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority
MTA Bridges and Tunnels, legal name Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, is a division of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, that operates seven intrastate toll bridges and two tunnels in New York City...
, an affiliate agency of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority
Metropolitan Transportation Authority (New York)
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority of the State of New York is a public benefit corporation responsible for public transportation in the U.S...
. A rehabilitation project commenced in 2000 and is being carried out by Steinman, Boynton, Gronquist and Birdsall a successor firm of Robinson & Steinman
David B. Steinman
David Bernard Steinman was an American structural engineer. He was the designer of the Mackinac Bridge and many other notable bridges, and a published author. He grew up in New York City's lower Manhattan, and lived with the ambition of making his mark on the Brooklyn Bridge that he lived under...
, the firm that originally designed and engineered the bridge.
Since July 12, 2009, the crossing charge for a two-axle passenger vehicle has been $3.00 charged in each direction, with a $.91 discount for E-ZPass users. As of December 30, 2010, the toll changed to $4.00 in each direction, with a $1.80 discount for E-ZPass
E-ZPass
E-ZPass is an electronic toll-collection system used on most tolled roads, bridges, and tunnels in the northeastern US, south to Virginia and West Virginia, and west to Illinois. Currently, there are 25 agencies spread across 14 states that make up the . All member agencies use the same technology,...
users. About 75,000 vehicles per day use the bridge. Current traffic alignment is northbound on the three-lane upper deck and southbound on the four-lane lower deck.
In January 2010, the MTA announced that it is planning to implement a pilot program on the Henry Hudson Bridge to phase out toll booths and use open road tolling
Open road tolling
Open road tolling or free-flow tolling is the collection of tolls on toll roads without the use of toll booths. An electronic toll collection system is usually used instead. The major advantage to ORT is that users are able to drive through the toll plaza at highway speeds without having to slow...
. In January 20, 2011, this toll pilot project got underway. Drivers without E-ZPass would be sent a bill in the mail.
External links
- NYC Roads entry
- thebassguy.com artistic photos