Patroon Island Bridge
Encyclopedia
The Patroon Island Bridge is a major crossing of the Hudson River in Albany
, New York
. The bridge carries Interstate 90
, in the east-west direction, over the Hudson River
between Albany
and Rensselaer
Counties.
It has been in service since 1968; however, some structural repairs were made in 1992. The bridge consists of ten spans. Seven spans are considered the main spans and consist of steel trusses and concrete decks. The other three spans are considered approach spans, which are supported by plate girders. The main span over the river-shipping channel is 375 feet (114.3 m) long and 89 feet (27.1 m) wide, and the overall bridge length is 1795 feet (547.1 m). There is an estimated 60 feet (18.3 m) of clearance for shipping on the Hudson River below, which changes with the local tide. Today's replacement cost is estimated to be between $80 and $100 million. The bridge has an HS Inventory load rating of 35 tons, and is inspected annually. The average daily traffic count was 70,787 in 1998 with a 4.5 percent estimated traffic growth during the life of the bridge.
The bridge's name comes from the former (Lower) Patroon Island that once existed adjacent to the bridge. A patroon
was a proprietor of a tract of land in the 17th-century Dutch colony of New Netherland
in North America.
.
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...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. The bridge carries Interstate 90
Interstate 90
Interstate 90 is the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It is the northernmost coast-to-coast interstate, and parallels US 20 for the most part. Its western terminus is in Seattle, at Edgar Martinez Drive S. near Safeco Field and CenturyLink Field, and its eastern terminus is in...
, in the east-west direction, over 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...
between Albany
Albany County, New York
Albany County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York, and is part of the Albany-Schenectady-Troy Metropolitan Statistical Area. The name is from the title of the Duke of York and Albany, who became James II of England . As of the 2010 census, the population was 304,204...
and Rensselaer
Rensselaer County, New York
Rensselaer County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 159,429. Its name is in honor of the family of Kiliaen van Rensselaer, the original Dutch owner of the land in the area. Its county seat is Troy...
Counties.
It has been in service since 1968; however, some structural repairs were made in 1992. The bridge consists of ten spans. Seven spans are considered the main spans and consist of steel trusses and concrete decks. The other three spans are considered approach spans, which are supported by plate girders. The main span over the river-shipping channel is 375 feet (114.3 m) long and 89 feet (27.1 m) wide, and the overall bridge length is 1795 feet (547.1 m). There is an estimated 60 feet (18.3 m) of clearance for shipping on the Hudson River below, which changes with the local tide. Today's replacement cost is estimated to be between $80 and $100 million. The bridge has an HS Inventory load rating of 35 tons, and is inspected annually. The average daily traffic count was 70,787 in 1998 with a 4.5 percent estimated traffic growth during the life of the bridge.
The bridge's name comes from the former (Lower) Patroon Island that once existed adjacent to the bridge. A patroon
Patroon
In the United States, a patroon was a landholder with manorial rights to large tracts of land in the 17th century Dutch colony of New Netherland in North America...
was a proprietor of a tract of land in the 17th-century Dutch colony of New Netherland
New Netherland
New Netherland, or Nieuw-Nederland in Dutch, was the 17th-century colonial province of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands on the East Coast of North America. The claimed territories were the lands from the Delmarva Peninsula to extreme southwestern Cape Cod...
in North America.
.
See also
- List of fixed crossings of the Hudson River