Carroll Street Bridge

The Carroll Street Bridge is a retractable bridge in New York City, crossing the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn. It carries a single wooden-decked lane for one-way eastbound vehicular traffic and two walkways. Completed in 1889, it is operated by the New York City Department of Transportation, with an average of about one thousand crossings each weekday. It is the oldest of the four remaining retractable bridges in the United States and is an official city landmark.

Carroll Street Bridge
Carroll Street Bridge retracting
Coordinates40.6782°N 73.9892°W / 40.6782; -73.9892
Carries1 lane of Carroll Street for eastbound one-way vehicle traffic and 2 walkways
CrossesGowanus Canal
LocaleNew York City (Brooklyn)
Maintained byNew York City Department of Transportation
Characteristics
DesignRetractable bridge
Total length107 ft 6 in (32.8 m)[1]
Width17.5 ft (5.3 m)[1]
Longest span63 ft (19 m)[1]
History
Engineering design byBrooklyn Department of City Works (Robert Van Buren, Chief Engineer; George Ingram, Engineer-in-Charge)[2]
Opened1889 (1889)
Statistics
Daily traffic1,142 (2016)[3]
TollFree
Location

Description

The Carroll Street Bridge is composed of a 107-foot-long (33 m) span supported by a pair of riveted steel plate girders.[2]: 5  The span is 17.5 feet (5.3 meters) wide and contains one eastbound lane of vehicular traffic and one walkway to either side. It carries the street of the same name within the neighborhood of Gowanus, Brooklyn. The posted restrictions are a height limit of 12 feet 6 inches (3.81 m) and a weight limit of 10 short tons (8.9 long tons; 9.1 t).[1][4] The roadway on either side is made of Belgian blocks.[5] On average, as of 2019, one thousand vehicles cross the bridge each weekday.[6]

The movable portion of the span is painted bright blue[5] and shaped like a trapezoid.[2]: 5 [7] Carriage truck frames, supported by wheels, are located underneath the girders. When the bridge is retracting, these frames run along three timber-supported steel rails that run diagonally on the western bank of the canal to the south of the span, which opens up a 36-foot-wide (11 m) channel for ships to pass.[7] The frames are moved by a series of pulleys. Originally, the span was retracted using a steam engine, but today it is powered by an electric motor.[2]: 5  Swinging gates on either side close off the span whenever the Carroll Street Bridge is in the open position.[7]

An operator's house is located on the bridge's western end along the southern sidewalk.[2]: 5  The booth is normally unmanned, but a bridge attendant can travel to the operator's house within two hours in case the bridge needs to be opened.[8]

The Carroll Street Bridge is one of four remaining retractable bridges in the United States,[lower-alpha 1] and one of two remaining in New York City, the other being the Borden Avenue Bridge in Queens.[7][8] The city formerly had as many as five retractable bridges, but three of these bridges, in Brooklyn, Staten Island, and the Bronx, were removed in the mid-20th century.[2]: 5 

History
View of the span

In the 1860s, a developer named Edwin Litchfield straightened and expanded the Gowanus Creek into a canal.[9]: 167  This resulted in the surrounding swamp being dried up, making it desirable for development.[7] The Gowanus Canal soon became a hub for industrial activity, with businesses specializing in lumber, coal, brick, stone, flour, and plaster.[7][10] The canal was crossed by six bridges, including one at Carroll Street.[2]: 2  When the first Carroll Street bridge closed in 1887, there was a discussion regarding the design of its replacement.[11]: 29–30  Landowners wanted to build a retractable span that would allow the bridge to slide diagonally onto the shore, but the city of Brooklyn resisted, since this would entail acquiring additional land.[7] Ultimately, the city of Brooklyn chose the landowners' plan.[2]: 2–3 [11]: 39  This design was chosen since the canal was narrower at Carroll Street, and a more conventional bascule bridge design might prevent some boats from passing.[7]

The new Carroll Street Bridge was designed by chief engineer Robert Van Buren and engineer-in-charge George Ingram. Charles O. H. Fritzche designed the motors while Cooper, Hewitt & Company constructed the steel superstructure.[5][2]: 3  The bridge opened in 1889[1][4] at a cost of $29,600.[2]: 3 [11]: 18 [7] After the Carroll Street Bridge was completed, very few modifications were made to it. The steam motors were supplanted by electric motors in 1908, while the rails and wheels were replaced in 1915 and the handrails were replaced in 1948.[7][2]: 3 

In 1971 the New York City government decided to permanently close the Carroll Street Bridge. At the time, there was a steady decline in the use of the Gowanus Canal, and the city did not have sufficient funds to operate the bridge. The span was only being used by 2,600 cars a day, but had to open twice a day on average. Initially scheduled to be closed on May 28, 1971, the span's closure was later delayed to June 25, and the control station was boarded up.[12] Following protests from residents, the city decided to reopen the Carroll Street Bridge the following month.[13] In 1974, the bridge was closed again for emergency repairs after a mechanical failure left the span in the open position.[14]

Another incident in 1985 or 1986 caused the Carroll Street Bridge to be stuck in the open position for several years.[7][15] During this time, the bridge was used as a filming location for the 1985 movie Heaven Help Us.[16] The bridge was designated an official New York City landmark in 1987, with the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission calling it "rare and unusual".[2]: 8 [7] The restored bridge was reopened on September 24, 1989.[15][17] It was subsequently repaired again in 2011.[18] After being damaged during Hurricane Sandy in 2012, the Carroll Street Bridge was repaired the following year.[8][19]

See also

Notes
  1. According to a 2021 Untapped Cities article, it was one of three remaining.[5]

References
  1. "Carroll Street Bridge". Bridgehunter.com. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
  2. "Carroll Street Bridge" (PDF). New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. September 29, 1987. Retrieved September 5, 2019.
  3. "New York City Bridge Traffic Volumes" (PDF). New York City Department of Transportation. 2016. p. 10. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
  4. "Carroll Street Bridge". New York City Department of Transportation. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
  5. Young, Michelle (March 25, 2021). "The Carroll Street Bridge, the Only Wooden Bridge in NYC for Cars". Untapped New York. Retrieved March 25, 2021.
  6. "NYC DOT - Bridge Statistics". New York City Department of Transportation. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
  7. Gray, Christopher (May 21, 1989). "STREETSCAPES: The Carroll Street Bridge; Getting a Landmark in Shape for Its 100th Birthday". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 5, 2019.
  8. Berger, Joseph (May 13, 2013). "Antique Bridge Closed to Traffic While It's Open for Repairs". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 5, 2019.
  9. Kadinsky, Sergey (2016). Hidden Waters of New York City: A History and Guide to 101 Forgotten Lakes, Ponds, Creeks, and Streams in the Five Boroughs. New York, NY: Countryman Press. ISBN 978-1-58157-566-8.
  10. Leon, Juan-Andres (2015). "The Gowanus Canal: The fight for Brooklyn's coolest superfund site". Distillations. 1 (4): 26–35. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  11. Brooklyn (New York, N. Y. ) City Works Dept (1887). Annual Report of the Commissioner for the Year.
  12. "Gowanus Canal Bridge Shut After 82 Years". The New York Times. July 11, 1971. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 5, 2019.
  13. "Gowanus Canal Bridge Put Back in Operation". The New York Times. July 25, 1971. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 5, 2019.
  14. "Metropolitan Briefs". The New York Times. September 6, 1974. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 5, 2019.
  15. Pitt, David E. (September 24, 1989). "2 Neighborhoods Celebrate Restoration of Their Bridge". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 5, 2019.
  16. Schultz, Ayla (July 31, 2019). "A Brief History Of The Bridges Over The Gowanus Canal". BKLYNER. Retrieved September 5, 2019.
  17. Farrell, Bill (September 25, 1989). "100-year-old bridge re-opens". New York Daily News. p. 216. Retrieved August 28, 2019 – via newspapers.com open access.
  18. O’Neill, Natalie. "Bridge out! Historic Carroll Street span to close for two weeks". Brooklyn Paper. Retrieved September 5, 2019.
  19. Albrecht, Leslie (March 25, 2013). "Carroll Street Bridge Over Gowanus Canal Closing to Traffic". DNAinfo New York. Archived from the original on September 5, 2019. Retrieved September 5, 2019.
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