Everything about The Jamestown Bridge totally explained
The
Jamestown Bridge, officially the
Jamestown-Verrazano Bridge and usually referred to as the
Old Jamestown Bridge to avoid confusion with its replacement, the new
Jamestown-Verrazano Bridge, is a now demolished
cantilever truss bridge that connected
Conanicut Island to mainland
North Kingstown,
Rhode Island, spanning the West passage of
Narragansett Bay. The bridge first opened to traffic in 1940, replacing ferry service as the primary connection for the town of
Jamestown, situated on Conanicut Island. It was constructed for just over $3 million 1940
USD, which was paid for by tolls until
June 28,
1969. With a total length of 6,892 feet (2,100 m), the Jamestown Bridge was the third longest in
Rhode Island at the time of its destruction, ranking behind its replacement, the adjacent 7,350-foot (2,240 m) Jamestown-Verrazano Bridge, and the 11,248-foot (3,428 m)
Newport Bridge connecting Conanicut Island to
Aquidneck Island and
Newport. The Jamestown Bridge was closed to vehicular traffic on
October 8,
1992, and its main span was destroyed through a controlled
demolition on
April 18,
2006.
Structure
The bridge consisted of 69 spans with a large continuous
cantilever Warren
truss centerpiece. The 600 ft (183 m) main span was 135 ft (41 m) above the western portion of the Narragansett Bay. The bridge was long thought to be a danger to motorists, consisting of only two, undivided lanes. Its steep climb proved challenging for some vehicles and with no passing lanes or shoulders, hazardous conditions resulted when stalled vehicles were on the bridge. The roadway deck through the cantilevered span was an open steel-grid deck, similar to that of the now demolished
Sikorsky Bridge on the
Merritt Parkway in
Connecticut. The deck proved to be extremely slippery when wet. To solve the problems of the aging bridge, the RIDOT began construction of the new
Jamestown-Verrazano Bridge in 1985. The new bridge, which opened with the Route 138 Freeway on
October 8,
1992, includes four divided lanes of traffic with shoulders and a sidewalk.
Demolition
The
United States Coast Guard had long declared the Jamestown Bridge to be a navigation hazard and requested that the state of Rhode Island dismantle the eastern two thirds of it. The
Sierra Club, an
environmental organization, suggested to instead turn the bridge into a
bike route and walkway. However, the aging structure proved to be in worse condition than previously thought, prompting officials to go ahead with removing the entire structure.
On
April 18,
2006, the main span of the Jamestown Bridge was brought down by 75 pounds of
RDX explosives and 350
shaped charges. On
May 18,
2006, crews imploded the trusses that once carried the side spans. Throughout mid-2006, workers removed the remaining support piers and low-level approach spans west of the main channel. Demolition of the old Jamestown Bridge was almost fully completed by December 2006.
As of February 2008, the extreme western portion of the bridge hasn't yet been demolished, with no plans to do so in the immediate future. The total cost for removal of the Jamestown Bridge was $22 million USD (2006).
Further Information
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