Hell Gate Bridge
| Hell Gate Bridge | |
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Hell Gate Bridge in 2008, with the Triborough Bridge and the Upper East Side skyline in the background
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| Coordinates | 40°46′57″N 73°55′18″W / 40.7824°N 73.9217°WCoordinates: 40°46′57″N 73°55′18″W / 40.7824°N 73.9217°W |
| Carries | Amtrak Northeast Corridor; CSX/CP (D & H) freight |
| Crosses | Hell Gate of the East River |
| Locale | Queens and the Bronx in New York City via Randall's and Wards Islands |
| Owner | Amtrak |
| Maintained by | Amtrak |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Through arch bridge |
| Material | nickel-magnenese steel |
| Total length | 17,000 feet (3.2 mi; 5.2 km) |
| Width | 100 feet (30.5 m) |
| Longest span | 978 feet (298 m) |
| Clearance below | 135 feet (41.1 m) |
| Rail characteristics | |
| No. of tracks | 3, 2 for Amtrak Northeast Corridor 1 for CSX/CP (D & H) |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| Structure gauge | AAR |
| Electrified | 25 kV AC catenary |
| History | |
| Architect | Henry Hornbostel |
| Designer | Gustav Lindenthal |
| Engineering design by | Harold W. Hudson |
| Constructed by | American Bridge Inc. |
| Fabrication by | American Bridge Company |
| Construction begin | 1912 |
| Construction end | 1916 |
| Opened | March 9, 1917 |
 Hell Gate Bridge
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The Hell Gate Bridge, originally the New York Connecting Railroad Bridge or The East River Arch Bridge, is a 1,017-foot (310 m)steel through arch railroad bridge in New York City. The bridge crosses the Hell Gate, a strait of the East River, between Astoria in Queens and Randalls and Wards Islands in Manhattan.
The bridge is the largest of three bridges that form the Hell Gate complex. An inverted bowstring truss bridge with four 300-foot (91.4 m) spans crosses the Little Hell Gate (now filled in); and a 350-foot (106.7 m) fixed truss bridge crosses the Bronx Kill (now narrowed by fill). Together with approaches, the bridges are more than 17,000 feet (3.2 mi; 5.2 km) long.
The Tyne Bridge in Newcastle, England, and the Sydney Harbour Bridge in Australia derived their own designs from the Hell Gate Bridge. The Sydney Harbour Bridge, however, is about 60% larger than the Hell Gate Bridge.
The bridge was conceived in the early 1900s to link New York and the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) with New England and the New Haven Railroad (NH).
Construction was overseen by Gustav Lindenthal, whose original design left a gap of 15 feet (4.6 m) between the steel arch and the masonry towers. Fearing that the public assumed that the towers were structurally integral to the bridge, Lindenthal added aesthetic girders between the upper chord of the arch and the towers to make the structure appear more robust. The original plans for the piers on the long approach ramps called for a steel lattice structure. The design was changed to smooth concrete to soothe concerns that asylum inmates on Wards and Randall's islands would climb the piers to escape.
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Wikipedia