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Bear Mountain Bridge | |
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 Bear Mountain Bridge in 2022 | |
| Coordinates | 41°19′12″N73°58′49″W / 41.32°N 73.9803°W /41.32; -73.9803 |
| Carries | 2 lanes of  US 6 /US 202 /Appalachian Trail /State Bike Route 9 |
| Crosses | Hudson River |
| Locale | Cortlandt, New York andBear Mountain, New York |
| Other name | Purple Heart Veterans Memorial Bridge (ceremonial) |
| Maintained by | New York State Bridge Authority |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Suspension bridge |
| Total length | 2,255 feet (687 m) |
| Width | 48 feet (15 m) |
| Height | 360 feet (110 m) |
| Longest span | 1,632 feet (497 m)[1] |
| Clearance below | 155 feet (47 m) |
| History | |
| Opened | November 27, 1924; 100 years ago (1924-11-27) |
| Statistics | |
| Daily traffic | 17,695 (2007)[2] |
| Toll | (Eastbound only) cars: $1.65E-ZPass $2.15 tolls-by-mail |
Bear Mountain Bridge | |
   | |
| Location | Cortlandt /Bear Mountain |
| Coordinates | 41°19′12″N73°58′49″W / 41.32000°N 73.98028°W /41.32000; -73.98028 |
| Built | 1923; 102 years ago (1923) |
| Built by | Terry & Tench Construction Co. |
| Engineer | Baird, Howard C. |
| MPS | Hudson Highlands MRA |
| NRHP reference No. | 82001266 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | November 23, 1982[3][4] |
| Designated NYSRHP | September 30, 1982 |
| Location | |
 Interactive map of Bear Mountain Bridge | |
TheBear Mountain Bridge, ceremonially named thePurple Heart Veterans Memorial Bridge,[5] is a tollsuspension bridge inNew York State. It carriesUS 6 andUS 202 across theHudson River betweenBear Mountain State Park inOrange County[6] andCortlandt inWestchester County. At completion in 1924 it was thelongest suspension bridge in the world[7] until this record was surpassed 19 months later by theBenjamin Franklin Bridge betweenPhiladelphia andCamden, New Jersey.[8] Like theWilliamsburg Bridge in New York City, the approach spans of the Bear Mountain Bridge are unsuspended; only its main span (between the towers) is suspended by cables.
The span enables connections between thePalisades Interstate Parkway andUS 9W on the west bank nearBear Mountain andNY 9D on the east bank as well asUS 9 and theBear Mountain Parkway farther east. It also carries theAppalachian Trail andNew York State Bicycle Route 9 across the Hudson.
The bridge has two undivided vehicle lanes flanked by sidewalks. Cyclists may ride with motor vehicle traffic or walk their bikes on the sidewalks.
Plans for a bridge at the site began with the charter of the Hudson Highland Suspension Bridge Company in 1868 after a bill was passed by the legislature and signed byGovernor Fenton.[9][10][11] Early investors in the company includedErastus Corning,Isaac Bell, andAddison P. Jones.[11]
The following year,The New York Times reported that a contract had been signed and construction would "speedily commence" on the "Hudson Highland Suspension Bridge" betweenFort Clinton andAnthony's Nose. The intent was to carry a railroad towardDerby, Connecticut, to supply coal and iron for industry in the lowerNaugatuck Valley. The surface of the bridge was to be 150 feet (46 m) above high tide.[citation needed] In 1871, a board of engineers had been selected to work on the bridge, includingHoratio Allen,George B. McClellan,Edward W. Serrell, andQuincy Adams Gillmore. It was reported thatcapital of $2.5 million was needed and that much of it had been raised from the railroads who would benefit from the bridge. At this time, construction was expected to begin in June 1871 and to be complete by 1875.[12]
In 1887, reports said the bridge would be finished in two years. By 1889, "work on the anchor pits was progressing rapidly."[13] On March 5, 1896, the Hudson Highland Bridge and Railway Company filed for incorporation with capital of $84,900. The company was a reorganization of the former Hudson Suspension Bridge and New England Railway Company.[14]
None of these attempts to build the bridge were successful, with only foundation preparations having progress made.[9] Much of this period coincided with the so-calledLong Depression, including stock market crashes called thePanic of 1873 andPanic of 1893. A charter for construction of the bridge expired in 1916.[15]
In March 1922 through a bill introduced byC. Ernest Smith, the state legislature authorized creation of the private Bear Mountain Hudson River Bridge Company to complete the project. The bridge was now for automobiles instead of rail, and included a 3-mile (4.8 km) approach road from the Albany Post Road north of Peekskill. The 11-member board of directors included financiersE. Roland Harriman andGeorge W. Perkins. Under the 1922 charter, ownership of the bridge was to revert by 1962 to New York State, which also had the right to acquire the bridge at any time.[16] A $4.5 million bond issue was completed in April of that year through the Harriman banking and brokerage firm.
When the bridge formally opened on November 27, 1924, it was thelongest suspension bridge span in the world, and the first of its type to have aconcrete deck.[17] It was the first automobile bridge to cross the Hudson south ofAlbany, and surpassed the 1888Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge as the southernmost crossing of the river.[18]
Construction methods pioneered on the Bear Mountain Bridge influenced much larger projects to follow, including theGeorge Washington (1931) andGolden Gate (1937) bridges. Completion also inspired the state to extend theBronx River Parkway fromKensico Dam northward, work which evolved into theBear Mountain Parkway and the first phase of theTaconic State Parkway.[citation needed]
Ownership was transferred to theNew York State Bridge Authority on September 26, 1940, and the toll was reduced to a flat rate of 50 cents per automobile.[19][20]
Originally, tolls were collected in both directions. In August 1970, the toll was abolished for westbound drivers, and at the same time, eastbound drivers saw their tolls doubled. The tolls of eleven other New York–New Jersey and Hudson River crossings along a 130-mile (210 km) stretch, from theOuterbridge Crossing in the south to theRip Van Winkle Bridge in the north, were also changed to eastbound-only at that time.[21]
In 1982 the bridge and its then-abandoned original toll house several miles away on the Peekskill approach road, Routes 6 and 202, were added to theNational Register of Historic Places.[3] The bridge was also designated as a local historic civil engineering landmark by theAmerican Society of Civil Engineers in 1986.[9]
In 2019, the bridge authority announced that tolls on its five Hudson River crossings would increase each year beginning in 2020 and ending in 2023. On May 1, 2021, the toll for passenger cars traveling eastbound on the Mid-Hudson Bridge was $1.75 in cash, $1.45 for E-ZPass users. In May 2022, tolls rose to $1.55 for E-ZPass users and $2 for cash payers. In 2023, the E-ZPass toll was set at $1.65, and the cash toll was set at $2.15.[22] Tolls are collected from eastbound travelers only.
At midnight on October 1, 2021, the bridge was converted to all-electronic tolling and only in the eastbound direction. Motorists can use their E-ZPass to pay the toll. Those without E-ZPass are sent a bill in the mail.
The Bridge was used to test several new materials designed to lower the cost and environmental impact of bridge cable maintenance. One of them proved promising.[23]
During routine inspections, bridge cables are unwrapped and wedges are used to separate the individual strands. Inspectors look for signs of moisture and corrosion throughout the cable. For over 100 years, ared lead paste was used to seal the strands against moisture intrusion. In addition to emerging as anenvironmental hazard during that span, the paste was also prone to drying out and cracking after a few years, creating an ongoing maintenance task.[23]
In the 1990s engineers experimented with several materials on a small section of the cables of the Bear Mountain Bridge. After a year the test areas were reexamined and onepolymer-based, non-toxic paste was found to be superior. The bridge cables were then rewrapped in 2000 using the material. Seven years later the cables were found to be free of additional moisture or corrosion. New York State Bridge Authority chief engineer William Moreau expressed hope that the new material may lengthen the life of the cables, and lower the need for inspection and maintenance.[23]
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