Tioronda Bridge

Tioronda Bridge

The remaining abutments and structural elements of the Tioronda Bridge, in 2008.
Coordinates 41°29′19″N 73°58′27″W / 41.48861°N 73.97417°W / 41.48861; -73.97417Coordinates: 41°29′19″N 73°58′27″W / 41.48861°N 73.97417°W / 41.48861; -73.97417
Carries Two lanes of South Avenue
Crosses Fishkill Creek
Locale Beacon, NY, United States
Maintained by City of Beacon
Characteristics
Design Bowstring truss
Total length 110 feet (34 m)[1]
Width 16 feet (4.9 m)[1]
History
Opened 1873
Closed 1985

The Tioronda Bridge once carried South Avenue in Beacon, New York, across Fishkill Creek. Built between 1869 and 1873 by the Ohio Bridge Company, it was demolished by the city in December 2006.[2] The bridge had been listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976, but a decade later had deteriorated to the point that it had to be closed.[3]

Three stone abutments laid in randomly coursed ashlar remain in the river, with one steel stringer and some utility pipes. They supported three spans 34 feet (10 m) in length for a total span of 110 feet (34 m). The bowstrings, arched hollow tubes which once carried the load but later only became guardrails, were the bridge's distinctive structural feature.[1]

It was one of the last remaining bowstring truss bridges in the United States, one of the oldest vehiclular bridges in New York and one of the few 19th century iron bridges known to have been based on a patent model. Only one other bridge, over Sandy Creek in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, is known to have been built from that model as the Ohio Bridge Company ceased operations in 1873, possibly due to that year's economic crisis.[1]

The trusses themselves were preserved for possible ornamental use on a rebuilt bridge.[2] However, it is not known when such rebuilding would take place, and the city's police and fire departments would like a rebuilt bridge to be wider than the current abutments and decking, still in place, would allow for.[2]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Smith, Raymond (February 1976). "National Register of Historic Places nomination, Tioronda Bridge". New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Retrieved November 19, 2009.
  2. 1 2 3 Fasulo, John T.; February 4, 2007; The Tioranda Bridge Succumbs, Beacon Dispatch; retrieved July 3, 2007.
  3. ↑ Galgano, Carolyn; March 23, 2005; 133-Year-Old Bridge To Be Dismantled; Preservation Online; retrieved July 4, 2007.
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