![]() ![]() ![]() This wuz awesome! It helped me on my research report that is due 2morrow!!! Comment #2 on 04.12.10 at 6:47 pm O well, i’ll just look at other websites. This kind of helped me but i needed more info. Hi! I’m doin a project that’s due in 2 days (i just got the paper 2day) and i had 2 do the biggest bridge in Connecticut. (And by “incredibly mundane” I mean AWESOME!)ġ4 responses to “The World’s Largest Stone Arch Bridge*” More incredibly mundane firsts and largests in Hartford. Return to CTMQ’s Bridges, Canals & Dams, Roads & Tunnels page Note: Almost all the info herein is from PAST Inc.’s site (Friend of CTMQ) After his death in 1922, the bridge, originally known simply as the Hartford Bridge, was renamed in his honor. He was an early proponent of the bridge and chairman of the special commission created by the State Legislature to oversee its construction. So why “Bulkeley?” Well, if you dutifully clicked the link above to the largest colonial building in the world, you learned that not only was Morgan Bulkeley a former Aetna president, but also a former governor and U. In designing the bridge, the architect and engineer studied numerous ancient European bridges, and they decided that uncomplicated geometry and restrained architectural detailing would create the proper sense of “strength, beauty and dignity.” The Bulkeley Bridge’s tremendous scale, plain but graceful lines, arched form, and simple Classical ornament make it one of the state’s pre-eminent examples of Neo-Classical architecture. Hartford’s civic and business leaders were determined that the new bridge would be “an ornament to the city which should endure forever.” To create a proper setting, the bridge commission tore down rows of tenements and constructed wide, landscaped approach boulevards on both sides of the river. The Bulkeley Bridge was built to replace Hartford’s 1818 covered bridge, which burned in 1895. Four people perished during construction, and the chief engineer, Edwin Dwight Graves, suffered a nervous breakdown from which he never recovered. Five of its spans are longer than any of the other stone arches in the state 100,000 cubic yards of pink and gray granite were consumed in its construction the tolerances for the stone-cutting were unbelievably close (less than 3/8″ over the whole face of a 10-ton block) and its total cost, some $3 million, made it for many years the most expensive bridge built in Connecticut. Not only was it the last of its kind, but also in many ways the Bulkeley Bridge was one of the greatest. ![]() Within a few years of its conception, concrete and steel had entirely replaced stone in the construction of large bridges. In 1926 one of the Bulkeley Bridge’s engineers speculated, probably correctly, that it was the last monumental stone bridge that would ever be built. And now, you’ll have something cool to tell your poor kids about it the next time you do. No, I’m talking about the world’s largest stone arch bridge! I’d bet that almost every Nutmegger reading this has driven (or slowly crawled) over the Bulkeley Bridge at some point in their lives. Located on the West side, in Marysville, is a personal favorite location, to view the traffic crossing the mile wide river.Who says Hartford doesn’t have claims to fame beyond insurance giants, Mark Twain and Samuel Colt? Not I! And I’m not just talking about such important things as the largest colonial building in the world or the world’s first two sided building. While the track layout has been altered over the years, changing from the original 4 track system, to three, to the current two track layout, the bridge's appearance is still just as impressive as Griff Teller's "1949 Main Lines-Passenger and Freight" commissioned for PRR advertising purposes. Today this bridge faithfully serves the Norfolk Southern Corporation seeing heavy freight traffic and a round trip of daily Amtrak NYC-Pittsburgh service trains. While the terminal deserves more in depth coverage, the Rockville Bridge and supporting approaches particularly on the West Bank in Marysville, represent the forward thinking of PRR engineers in designing and managing traffic flow of passenger, thru freight and terminating/ originating freight without interference and delay. ![]() This area of the PRR was the Eastern Hub of lines coming from New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Buffalo, and Hagerstown, creating a westward funnel, concentrating mainline traffic to Pittsburgh and points west. Built by the Pennsylvania Railroad, the 3820' long span is made of 48 seventy foot spans over the Susquehanna River, connecting the PRR Harrisburg Terminal and Buffalo Line with the Mainline West, and connection to the sprawling Enola Yard complex through a complex junction in Marysville PA. Opened in 1902 under the direction of Chief Engineer William H Brown, the Rockville Bridge is the longest masonry arch railroad viaduct in the world. ![]()
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