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88-599: The Bulkeley Bridge (also known as Hartford Bridge , Bridge No. 980A) is the oldest of three highway bridges over the Connecticut River between Hartford, Connecticut and East Hartford, Connecticut . A stone arch bridge composed of nine spans, the bridge carries Interstate 84 , U.S. Route 6 , and U.S. Route 44 across the river. As of 2005, the bridge carried an average daily traffic of 142,500 cars. The arches are mounted on stone piers, and vary in length from 68 feet (21 m) to 119 feet (36 m);

176-618: A 1635 scouting party commissioned by William Pynchon to found a city on the river's most advantageous site for commerce and agriculture. Pynchon's Massachusetts scouts located the Pocomtuc village of Agawam, where the Bay Path trade route crossed the Connecticut River at two of its major tributaries—the Chicopee River to the east and Westfield River to the west—and just north of Enfield Falls,

264-486: A Silver Lane to Wawarme Avenue alignment. In late 1940, construction began. On December 4, 1941, disaster struck, when a 222 feet (70 m) section of the Charter Oak Bridge fell into the Connecticut River during construction. Sixteen men fell to their deaths in the icy river, and 606 tons of steel, including a 176-ton derrick, plummeted into the water. One body was never recovered. Sixteen other men were rescued by

352-514: A campaign of water conservation. Demand was reduced to sustainable levels by 1989, reaching approximately a 25% margin of safety by 2009. The Connecticut River is the largest river ecosystem in New England. Its watershed spans Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, small portions of Maine, and the Canadian province of Quebec. The Connecticut River rises from Fourth Connecticut Lake ,

440-561: A center of wildlife and recreation. Starting about 1865, the river was used for massive logging drives from Third Connecticut Lake to initially water powered sawmills near Enfield Falls. Trees cut adjacent to tributary streams including Perry Stream and Indian Stream in Pittsburg, New Hampshire , Halls Stream on the Quebec –New Hampshire border, Simms Stream , the Mohawk River , and

528-647: A commission to study the need for a second bridge. The outcome was a proposed new bridge from Main and Pitkin Streets in East Hartford to Wyllys Street at Wethersfield Avenue in Hartford. In 1931 the commission hired a design consultant. The new design was an 800 feet (240 m) suspension span, with the eastern end shifted south to Main Street and Silver Lane. The project went to bid in 1933 and would cost $ 4.4 million. However,

616-873: A diversity of colonial organisms including bryozoa . Freshwater sponges the size of dinner plates have been found by scuba divers at depths of more than 130 feet (40 m), thought to be the deepest location of the river, around the French King Bridge in Erving, Massachusetts. Mussels, eels, and northern pike were also observed there. There are several species of anadromous and catadromous fish, including brook trout , winter flounder , blueback herring , alewife , rainbow trout , large brown trout , American shad ( Alosa sapidissima ), hickory shad , smallmouth bass , Atlantic sturgeon , striped bass ( Morone saxatilis ), American eel , sea lamprey , and endangered shortnose sturgeon and dwarf wedgemussels. Additionally,

704-473: A fire. The flames started near the East Hartford end of the bridge, and within ten minutes had swept the entire tinder-dry structure. There had been much agitation for a new bridge, and the Hartford Courant reported a crowd of 20,000 spectators lined the banks of both sides of the river to watch the bridge burn. Backed by civic groups who saw an opportunity to create a monumental structure, construction on

792-477: A lot of cross-state traffic: US 5, US 6, and US 44, as well as earlier iterations of Connecticut Route 17 and Connecticut Route 101 . Following a pair of horrific floods in 1936 and 1938 a series of levees were constructed along the banks of the Connecticut River, beginning Hartford's retreat from the waterfront and partially obscuring views of the bridge. Congestion on city streets and the Bulkeley Bridge led

880-415: A permanent "Hartford Bridge" began in 1903. Hartford's civic and business leaders were determined that the new bridge would be "an ornament to the city which should endure forever." Designed by Edward Dwight Graves, the neo-classical stone arch bridge design that was selected in 1903 stood in contrast to the various truss bridges and suspension bridges in vogue at the time. To create a proper setting,

968-757: A series of slow-flowing basins from Lake Francis Dam in Pittsburg, New Hampshire, to the Holyoke Dam at South Hadley Falls in Massachusetts. Among the most extensively dammed rivers in the United States, the Connecticut may soon flow at a more natural pace, according to scientists at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, who have devised a computer that – "in an effort to balance human and natural needs" – coordinates

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1056-565: A small pond 300 yards (270 m) south of the Canada–United States border in the town of Pittsburg, New Hampshire , at an elevation of 2,670 feet (810 m) above sea level. It flows through the remaining Connecticut Lakes and Lake Francis for 14 miles (23 km), all within the town of Pittsburg, and then widens as it delineates 255 miles (410 km) of the border between New Hampshire and Vermont. The river drops more than 2,480 feet (760 m) in elevation as it winds south to

1144-683: A territory stretching roughly from the Massachusetts border with Vermont and New Hampshire, northward to the rise of the White Mountains in New Hampshire. The Western Abenaki ( Sokoki ) tribe lived in the Green Mountains region of Vermont but wintered as far south as the Northfield, Massachusetts , area. The ( Sokoki ) tribe migrated to Odanak, Quebec following the epidemics and the wars with

1232-540: A toll bridge in the early 1940s, allowing through traffic to pass south of downtown Hartford. It was replaced by the current bridge in 1991, which is free to motorists. It has an average daily traffic of 79,800 motorists. The first motor vehicle bridge across the Connecticut River at Hartford was the Bulkeley Bridge , which opened in 1908. In 1929 the Connecticut General Assembly passed an act creating

1320-476: A toll on Connecticut Colony ships entering Boston Harbor . Connecticut was largely dependent on sea trade with Boston and therefore permanently dropped its tax on Springfield, but Springfield allied with Boston nonetheless, drawing the first state border across the Connecticut River. The Fort at Number 4 in Charlestown, New Hampshire , was the northernmost British colonial presence on the Connecticut River until

1408-619: A village sandwiched between the territories of the aggressive Pequots to the south and the more peaceable Mohegans to the north. The Mohegans dominated the region due north, where Hartford and its suburbs sit, particularly after allying themselves with the Colonists against the Pequots during the Pequot War of 1637. Their culture was similar to the Pequots, as they had split off from them and become their rivals some time prior to European exploration of

1496-788: Is a corruption of the Mohegan word quinetucket and Nipmuc word kwinitekw , which mean "beside the long, tidal river". The word came into English usage during the early 1600s to name the river, which was also called simply "The Great River". It was also known as the Fresh River, and the Dutch called it the Verse River. Early spellings of the name by European explorers included "Cannitticutt" in French or in English. Archaeological digs reveal human habitation of

1584-756: Is an important conduit of many anadromous fish, such as American shad , lamprey , and Atlantic salmon . American eels are also present, as are predators of these migratory fish including striped bass . Shad run as far north as Holyoke, Massachusetts where they are lifted over the Holyoke Dam by a fish elevator. This station publishes annual statistics of the run, and has recorded an occasional salmon. They pass an additional elevator in Turners Falls, Massachusetts , and make it at least as far as Bellows Falls, Vermont . Harbor seals have been recorded traveling upriver as far north as Holyoke in pursuit of migratory fish; it

1672-479: Is now I-84, Connecticut's main east-west corridor. Morgan Street and the carefully laid out approaches to the bridge were moved or covered first by the new interstate and later by its intersection with Interstate 91 . According to urban legend, Beatrice Fox Auerbach single-handedly decided that the two Interstates would meet at the western side of the Bulkeley Bridge without a direct connection. This would force traffic to use local streets and conveniently have pass by

1760-677: Is now inundated by the impoundments of dams built after this time. The Treaty of Paris (1783) that ended the American Revolutionary War created a new international border between New Hampshire and the Province of Canada at "northwesternmost headwaters of the Connecticut". Several streams fit this description, and thus a boundary dispute led to the short-lived Indian Stream Republic , which existed from 1832 to 1835. The broad, fertile Connecticut River Valley attracted agricultural settlers and colonial traders to Hartford, Springfield, and

1848-636: Is one of the few major rivers in the United States without a major city at its mouth because of this obstacle. Major cities on the Connecticut River are Hartford and Springfield, which lie 45 and 69 miles (70 and 110 km) upriver respectively. The Nature Conservancy named the Connecticut River's tidelands one of the Western Hemisphere's "40 Last Great Places", while the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands listed its estuary and tidal wetlands as one of 1,759 wetlands of international importance. In 1997,

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1936-405: Is possible that they ranged farther upstream before the dam was built. In the southernmost portions in southern Connecticut near Long Island Sound, dolphins are spotted on occasion. There are 12 species of freshwater mussels. Eleven of them occur in the mainstem of the Connecticut; the brook floater is found only in small streams and rivers. Species diversity is higher in the southern part of

2024-479: Is well known for Connecticut shade tobacco . The Connecticut River is influenced by the tides as far north as Enfield Rapids in Windsor Locks, Connecticut , approximately 58 miles (93 km) north of the river's mouth. Two million residents live in the densely populated Hartford-Springfield region, which stretches roughly between the college towns of Amherst, Massachusetts, and Middletown, Connecticut. Hartford,

2112-597: The CCC , contributed aid and manpower to the effort. Flooding of roads isolated the city for a time. When the water receded, it left behind silt-caused mud which in places was 3 feet (1 m) thick; the recovery effort in Springfield, at the height of the American Great Depression , took approximately a decade. Overall, the flood caused 171 deaths and US$ 500 million (US$ 11,000,000,000 with inflation ) in damages. Across

2200-601: The Fort Huys de Hoop ("Fort House of Hope"). Four separate Puritan -led groups also settled the fertile Connecticut River Valley, and they founded the two large cities that continue to dominate the Valley: Hartford (est. 1635) and Springfield (est. 1636). The first group of pioneers left the Plymouth Colony in 1632 and ultimately founded the village of Matianuck (which became Windsor, Connecticut ) several miles north of

2288-470: The G. Fox & Co. department store (which was owned by Auerbach) in Downtown Hartford. I-84 would use the bridge to cross into East Hartford. In 1964, the bridge was widened to eight lanes. However, two lanes in each direction are auxiliary, serving exits and entrances, leaving only two lanes in each direction for through traffic on I-84. Until Riverfront Recapture efforts of the 1980s and 1990s,

2376-690: The Great Depression struck, banks were closed, and nothing further was done with the bridge until the decade was nearly over. With the opening of the Merritt Parkway in 1940 and the construction of the Wilbur Cross Highway underway, the General Assembly authorized a new bridge commission, this time for a toll bridge that would carry the area's first expressways across the Connecticut River. The commission studied several sites and arrived at

2464-748: The Nulhegan River basin in Essex County, Vermont , would be flushed into the main river by the release of water impounded behind splash dams . Several log drivers died trying to move logs through Perry Falls in Pittsburg. Teams of men would wait at Canaan, Vermont , to protect the bridges from log jams. Men guided logs through a 400-foot (120 m) drop along the length of Fifteen-Mile Falls (now submerged under Moore and Comerford reservoirs), and through Logan's Rips at Fitzdale, Mulligan's Lower Pitch, and Seven Islands. The White River from Vermont and Ammonoosuc River from New Hampshire brought more logs into

2552-680: The Passumpsic , Ammonoosuc , White , Black , West , Ashuelot , Millers , Deerfield , Chicopee , Westfield , and Farmington rivers. The Swift River , a tributary of the Chicopee, has been dammed and largely replaced by the Quabbin Reservoir which provides water to the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority district in eastern Massachusetts, including Boston and its metropolitan area . Along its southern reaches,

2640-516: The Six Flags New England amusement park. The Connecticut's largest falls – South Hadley Falls – features a vertical drop of 58 feet (18 m). Lush green forests and agricultural hamlets dot this middle portion of the Connecticut River; however, the region is best known for its numerous college towns , such as Northampton, South Hadley , and Amherst , as well as the river's most populous city, Springfield. The city sits atop bluffs beside

2728-582: The Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests , The Nature Conservancy of New Hampshire, and others to raise around $ 42 million. A conservation easement over 146,000 acres (590 km ) of the property prohibits development of the land while allowing public access. The forest is managed by the Lyme Timber Company, and the conservation easement over the land ensures sustainable forest management of

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2816-579: The Trust for Public Land purchased 171,000 acres (690 km ) of land in New Hampshire from International Paper , allowing the Connecticut Lakes Headwaters Partnership Task Force to plan the future protection of the land. The property spans the towns of Pittsburg , Clarksville , and Stewartstown, New Hampshire , nearly 3 percent of the land in the state of New Hampshire. The Trust for Public Land worked in partnership with

2904-765: The United States Fish and Wildlife Service has repopulated the river with another species of migratory fish, the Atlantic salmon , which for more than 200 years had been extinct from the river due to damming . Several fish ladders and fish elevators have been built to allow fish to resume their natural migration upriver each spring. Fresh and brackish water residents of the main branch and tributaries include common carp , white catfish , brown bullhead , fallfish , yellow perch , smallmouth bass , largemouth bass , northern pike , chain pickerel , bluegill , pumpkinseed sunfish , golden shiner , and rock bass . Much of

2992-482: The issuance of land grants by New Hampshire Governor Benning Wentworth beginning in the 1740s. New York protested these grants, and King George III decided in 1764 that the border between the provinces should be the western bank of the Connecticut River. Ethan Allen, the Green Mountain Boys , and other residents of the disputed area resisted attempts by New York to exercise authority there, which resulted in

3080-463: The Charter Oak was showing its age, both in materials and roadway design. After considering alternatives such as widening or adding a parallel span, the state decided to build a new bridge immediately to the south, and dismantle the old one. Work began in 1988 and the new bridge, free of tolls, opened to traffic on August 8, 1991, at a cost of $ 204 million. The original bridge was demolished after

3168-491: The Connecticut Colony and New Netherland Colony to a point near Greenwich, Connecticut . The treaty allowed the Dutch to maintain their trading post at Fort Huys de Hoop, which they did until the 1664 British takeover of New Netherland. The Connecticut River Valley's central location, fertile soil, and abundant natural resources made it the target of centuries of border disputes, beginning with Springfield's defection from

3256-515: The Connecticut Colony in 1641, which brought the Massachusetts Bay Colony to the river. In 1640, Massachusetts Bay Colony asserted a claim to jurisdiction over lands surrounding the river; however, Springfield remained politically independent until tensions with the Connecticut Colony were exacerbated by a final confrontation later that year. Hartford kept a fort at the mouth of the Connecticut River at Old Saybrook for protection against

3344-486: The Connecticut River Valley for 6,000 years before present. Numerous tribes lived throughout the fertile Connecticut River valley prior to Dutch exploration beginning in 1614. Information concerning how these tribes lived and interacted stems mostly from English accounts written during the 1630s. The Pequots dominated a territory in the southern region of the Connecticut River valley, stretching roughly from

3432-759: The Connecticut River has carved a wide, fertile floodplain valley (known in Massachusetts as the Pioneer Valley), depositing rich silt and loam soils known internationally for their agricultural merit. Abundant riparian hardwood species include sycamores, cottonwood , basswood, willows, sassafras, box elder, black elder, osier dogwood and more. The river itself and its many tributaries are home to many typical New England freshwater species. These include dace , crawfish , hellgramites , freshwater mussels , typical frog species, snapping turtles , brook trout , freshwater sturgeon, catfish, walleye, chain pickerel and carp. Introduced species include stocked rainbow trout . The river

3520-435: The Connecticut River was designated one of only 14 American Heritage Rivers , which recognized its "distinctive natural, economic, agricultural, scenic, historic, cultural, and recreational qualities." In May 2012, the Connecticut River was designated America's first National Blueway in recognition of the restoration and preservation efforts on the river. The Connecticut River's flow is slowed by main stem dams, which create

3608-657: The Connecticut River. The region stretching from Springfield north to the New Hampshire and Vermont state borders fostered many agricultural Pocomtuc and Nipmuc settlements, with its soil enhanced by sedimentary deposits. Occasionally, these villages endured invasions from more aggressive confederated tribes living in New York , such as the Mohawk , Mahican , and Iroquois tribes. The Pennacook tribe mediated many early disagreements between colonists and other Indian tribes, with

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3696-418: The Connecticut River. It includes six lanes, two shoulders and a protected pedestrian walkway on its north side. On June 9, 2015, Governor Dannel Malloy announced a five-year, $ 200 million construction project to rebuild the interchange between US-5/CT-15 and I-91 at the west end of the bridge. Although the interchange was rebuilt during the late 1980s and early 1990s along with the Charter Oak Bridge and

3784-475: The Connecticut's confluence with two major tributaries, the Chicopee River to the east and Westfield River to the west. The region around the Connecticut River is known locally as the Pioneer Valley , and the name adorns many local civic organizations and local businesses. While the southern part of the valley in Massachusetts is heavily urbanized, the northern section is largely rural and the local agriculture

3872-595: The Connecticut. After the first major dam was built near Turners Falls, Massachusetts , thirteen additional dams have ended the Connecticut River's great anadromous fish runs. Salmon restoration efforts began in 1967, and fish ladders at a fish elevator at Hadley Falls have since enabled migrating fish to return to some of their former spawning grounds. In addition to dams, warm water discharges between 1978 and 1992 from Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant in Vernon, Vermont released water up to 105 °F (41 °C) degrees, with

3960-642: The Connecticut. A log boom was built between Wells River, Vermont , and Woodsville, New Hampshire , to hold the logs briefly and release them gradually to avoid jams in the Ox Bow. Men detailed to this work utilized Woodsville's saloons and red-light district . Some of the logs were destined for mills in Wilder and Bellows Falls, Vermont , while others were sluiced over the Bellows Falls dam. North Walpole, New Hampshire , contained twelve to eighteen saloons, patronized by

4048-399: The Connecticut. This resulted in an unsuccessful lawsuit by the state of Connecticut against the diversion of its riparian waters. Demand for drinking water in eastern Massachusetts passed the sustainable supply from the existing system in 1969. Diverting water from the Connecticut River was considered several times, but in 1986 the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority instead undertook

4136-467: The Dutch fort. A group left the Massachusetts Bay Colony from Watertown , seeking a site where they could practice their religion more freely. With this in mind, they founded Wethersfield, Connecticut , in 1633, several miles south of the Dutch fort at Hartford. In 1635, Reverend Thomas Hooker led settlers from Cambridge, Massachusetts , where he had feuded with Reverend John Cotton , to

4224-402: The Hartford fire department. Engineers later determined that the bridge section, erected over the water from the Hartford side, fell as a result of movement in the falsework , the temporary steel and wood structure used to support the bridge girders until enough had been erected to reach the next pier. The temporary support structure moved as a result of a shift in the unstable varved clay under

4312-413: The Massachusetts Bay Colony. For decades, Springfield remained the Massachusetts Bay Colony's westernmost settlement, on the northern border of the Connecticut Colony. Of these settlements, Hartford and Springfield quickly emerged as powers. By 1654, however, the success of these English settlements rendered the Dutch position untenable on the Connecticut River. A treaty moved the boundary westward between

4400-555: The Pequots, Wampanoags , Mohegans, and the New Netherland Colony. After Springfield broke ties with the Colony, the remaining Connecticut settlements demanded that Springfield's ships pay tolls when passing the mouth of the river. The ships refused to pay this tax without representation at Connecticut's fort, but Hartford refused to grant it. In response, the Massachusetts Bay Colony solidified its friendship with Springfield by levying

4488-650: The US-5/CT-15 portions of the Wilbur Cross Highway, traffic along the section has increased significantly since the reconstruction and the removal of the two connector ramps between I-91 and the Founders Bridge (CT-2), which is located further north, closer to Downtown Hartford. The Charter Oak Bridge took over these connections following its replacement in 1991, and became the main southeast bypass of Hartford for traffic traveling on I-91 and I-84. The project includes

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4576-628: The area. The agricultural Pocomtuc tribe lived in unfortified villages alongside the Connecticut River north of the Enfield Falls on the fertile stretch of hills and meadows surrounding Springfield, Massachusetts . The Pocomtuc village of Agawam eventually became Springfield, situated on the Bay Path where the Connecticut River meets the western Westfield River and eastern Chicopee River . The Pocomtuc villagers at Agawam helped Puritan explorers settle this site and remained friendly with them for decades, unlike tribes farther north and south along

4664-588: The beginning of the river's course in the town of Pittsburg is occupied by the Connecticut Lakes, which contain lake trout and landlocked salmon . Landlocked salmon make their way into the river during spring spawning runs of bait fish and during their fall spawn. The river has fly-fishing-only regulations on 5 miles (8 km) of river. Most of the river from Lake Francis south is open to lure and bait as well. Two tail-water dams provide cold river water for miles downstream, making for bountiful summer fishing on

4752-452: The border of Massachusetts where it sits 190 feet (58 m) above sea level. The region along the river upstream and downstream from Lebanon, New Hampshire , and White River Junction, Vermont , is known as the "Upper Valley". The exact definition of the region varies, but it generally is considered to extend south to Windsor, Vermont , and Cornish, New Hampshire , and north to Bradford, Vermont , and Piermont, New Hampshire . In 2001,

4840-505: The bridge commission tore down rows of tenements and constructed wide, landscaped approach boulevards on both sides of the river. The bridge opened on Oct. 6, 1908. At a total price tag of $ 3 million it was the most expensive bridge in the state, costing half-million dollars more than the Connecticut State Capitol building itself. Constructed from over 100,000 cubic yards (76,000 m) of grey and pink granite, each ten-ton block

4928-519: The bridge remained largely hidden from view behind the flood control dikes and highways. Connecticut River The Connecticut River Valley is home to some of the northeastern United States' most productive farmland, as well as the Hartford–Springfield Knowledge Corridor , a metropolitan region of approximately two million people surrounding Springfield, Massachusetts , and Hartford, Connecticut . The word "Connecticut"

5016-404: The college town of Northampton. Charter Oak Bridge The Charter Oak Bridge is one of the three highway bridges over the Connecticut River between Hartford, Connecticut and East Hartford, Connecticut . The twin steel stringer bridge carries the Wilbur Cross Highway ( U.S. 5 / Route 15 ) over the river. Named for Connecticut's famed Charter Oak , the original crossing opened as

5104-517: The country. In 1948, the designation of state Route 15 was changed, to include a continuous planned expressway, complete in many places, from Greenwich to Union . This included the Merritt Parkway , the Berlin Turnpike , and the Charter Oak Bridge, forming at the time Connecticut's most advanced, prominent highway. The bridge carries US 5 to this day along with Route 15, but also carried U.S. Route 6 from 1943 to 1970. As traffic increased and

5192-455: The dam's powerhouse from being overwhelmed, despite blocks of ice breaking through the upstream walls. In Northampton, Massachusetts , looting during the flood became a problem, causing the mayor of the city to deputize citizen patrols to protect flooded areas. Over 3,000 refugees from the area were housed in Amherst College and the Massachusetts State Agricultural College (now UMass Amherst ). Unprecedented accumulated ice jams compounded

5280-407: The end of the French and Indian War in 1763. The Abenaki had resisted British colonial settlement for decades, but colonists began settling north of Brattleboro, Vermont , following the war. Settlement of the Upper Connecticut River Valley increased quickly, with population assessments of 36,000 by 1790. Vermont was claimed by both New Hampshire and New York , and was settled primarily through

5368-408: The establishment of the independent Vermont Republic in 1777 and its eventual accession to the United States in 1791 as the fourteenth state. Boundary disputes between Vermont and New Hampshire lasted for nearly 150 years and were finally settled in 1933, when the U.S. Supreme Court reaffirmed King George's boundary as the ordinary low-water mark on the Vermont shore. In some places, the state line

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5456-463: The holding and releasing of water between the river's 54 largest dams. The Cabot and Turners Falls hydroelectric stations generate up to 68 MW. The Holyoke Canal System and Hadley Falls Station at Holyoke Dam are rated a combined 48 MW. The Connecticut River watershed encompasses 11,260 square miles (29,200 km ), connecting 148 tributaries, including 38 major rivers and numerous lakes and ponds. Major tributaries include (from north to south)

5544-409: The log drivers. Mount Tom was the landmark the log drivers used to gauge the distance to the final mills near Holyoke, Massachusetts . These spring drives were stopped after 1915, when pleasure boat owners complained about the hazards to navigation. The final drive included 500 workers controlling 65 million feet of logs. A final pulp drive consisted of 100,000 cords of four-foot logs in 1918. This

5632-412: The new span was opened. The Charter Oak Landing park was created on the footprint of the original bridge along the west bank of the Connecticut River. One of the original bridge piers was preserved as a gateway into Charter Oak Landing. The new 3,400 feet (1,040 m) plate-girder bridge has several spans measuring 215 feet (70 m) in length, and has a vertical clearance of 69 feet (20 m) above

5720-404: The northeast, over 430,000 people were made homeless or destitute by flooding that year. The Connecticut River Flood Control Compact between the states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont was established in 1953 to help prevent serious flooding. The creation of the Quabbin Reservoir in the 1930s diverted the Swift River , which feeds the Chicopee River, a tributary of

5808-404: The planned beltways ( I-291 and I-491 ) were reduced in scope or cancelled entirely, the state paid particular attention to the overworked I-84 / I-91 interchange and surrounding highways. What eventually came out of this was added responsibility for the Charter Oak Bridge; it would take over the connections previously served by the Founders Bridge and two tight ramps to I-91. At the same time,

5896-404: The police to issue a "shoot on sight" edict; 800 National Guard troops were brought in to help maintain order. Rescue efforts using a flotilla of boats saved people trapped in upper stories of buildings, bringing them to local fraternal lodges, schools, churches and monasteries for lodging, medical care, and food. The American Red Cross and local, state and federal agencies, including the WPA and

5984-401: The presence of large, shifting sandbars at its mouth, the Connecticut is the only major river in the Northeastern United States without a port at its mouth. The Connecticut River carries a heavy amount of silt from as far north as Quebec, especially during the spring snow melt. This results in a large sandbar near the river's mouth which is a formidable obstacle to navigation. The Connecticut

6072-609: The problems created by the flood, diverting water into unusual channels and damming the river, raising water levels even further. When the jam at Hadley, Massachusetts , gave way, the water crest overflowed the dam at Holyoke , overwhelming the sandbagging there. The village of South Hadley Falls was essentially destroyed, and the southern parts of Holyoke were severely damaged, with 500 refugees. In Springfield, Massachusetts, 5 sq mi (13 km ), and 18 miles (29 km) of streets, were flooded, and 20,000 people lost their homes. The city lost power, and nighttime looting caused

6160-472: The property. Following the most recent ice age , the Middle Connecticut River Valley sat at the bottom of Lake Hitchcock . Its lush greenery and rich, almost rockless soil comes from the ancient lake's sedimentary deposits. In the Middle Connecticut region, the river reaches its maximum depth – 130 feet (40 m) – at Gill, Massachusetts , around the French King Bridge , and its maximum width – 2,100 feet (640 m) – at Longmeadow , directly across from

6248-431: The replacement of the single-lane on-ramp from I-91 Northbound to CT-15 Northbound (Exit 29) with a double-lane ramp and the separation of the I-91 and CT-15 carriageways, which currently weave with each other for one mile approaching the interchange. These upgrades will improve connections between I-91 and I-84 The Charter Oak Bridge itself is not being replaced as part of the I-91/US-5/CT-15 interchange project. However, it

6336-507: The river's first unnavigable waterfall. Pynchon surmised that traders using any of these routes would have to dock and change ships at his site, thereby granting the settlement a commercial advantage. It was initially named Agawam Plantation and was allied with the settlements to the south that became the state of Connecticut. In 1641, Springfield splintered off from the Hartford-based Connecticut Colony, allying itself with

6424-598: The river's mouth at Old Saybrook, Connecticut , north to just below the Big Bend at Middletown, Connecticut . They warred with and attempted to subjugate neighboring agricultural tribes such as the Western Niantics , while maintaining an uneasy stand-off with their rivals the Mohegans . The Mattabesset (Tunxis) tribe takes its name from the place where its sachems ruled at the Connecticut River's Big Bend at Middletown, in

6512-498: The river. Despite the disaster, the bridge's builder, the American Bridge Company , ordered new steel the same day the bridge fell, and it was completed on time. The four-lane Charter Oak Bridge and approach highways opened to traffic on September 5, 1942. Tolls were collected in both directions at a plaza in East Hartford. When the 3,016 feet (920 m) bridge opened, it was the longest continuous plate girder bridge in

6600-627: The second-largest city and the only state capital on the river, is at the southern end of this region on an ancient floodplain that stretches to Middletown. 15 miles (24 km) south of Hartford, at Middletown, the Lower Connecticut River section begins with a narrowing of the river, and then a sharp turn southeast. Throughout southern Connecticut, the Connecticut passes through a thinly populated, hilly, wooded region before again widening and discharging into Long Island Sound between Old Saybrook and Old Lyme in flat coastal marshlands. Due to

6688-530: The settlers but returned to Vermont. In 1614, Dutch explorer Adriaen Block became the first European to chart the Connecticut River, sailing as far north as Enfield Rapids . He called it the "Fresh River" and claimed it for the Netherlands as the northeastern border of the New Netherland colony. In 1623, Dutch traders constructed a fortified trading post at the site of Hartford, Connecticut , called

6776-495: The shad population has increased. The mouth of the river up to Essex is thought to be one of the busiest stretches of waterway in Connecticut. Some local police departments and the state Environmental Conservation Police patrol the area a few times a week. Some towns keep boats available if needed. In Massachusetts, the most active stretch of the Connecticut River is centered on the Oxbow , 14 miles (23 km) north of Springfield in

6864-519: The site in Connecticut of the Dutch Fort House of Hope, where he founded Newtowne. Shortly after Hooker's arrival, Newtowne annexed Matianuck based on laws articulated in Connecticut's settlement charter, the Warwick Patent of 1631. The patent, however, had been physically lost, and the annexation was almost certainly illegal. The fourth English settlement along the Connecticut River came out of

6952-559: The state to build an expressway bypass route and a new crossing just to the south, the Charter Oak Bridge , which opened in 1942. Founders Bridge , third Connecticut River crossing within the City of Hartford was inaugurated in 1958. The traffic relief on the Bulkeley was short-lived, however, for much more significant changes were in the wings. By the late 1950s work had already begun on what

7040-484: The surrounding region. The high volume and numerous falls of the river led to the rise of industry along its banks during the Industrial Revolution . The cities of Springfield and Hartford in particular became centers of innovation and "intense and concentrated prosperity." The Enfield Falls Canal was opened in 1829 to circumvent shallows around Enfield Falls, and the locks built for this canal gave their name to

7128-452: The thermal plume reaching 55 miles (89 km) downstream as far as Holyoke. This thermal pollution appears to be associated with an 80% decline in American shad fish numbers from 1992 to 2005 at Holyoke Dam. This decline may have been exacerbated by over-fishing in the mid-Atlantic and predation from resurging striped bass populations. The nuclear plant was closed at the end of 2014, after which

7216-476: The total length of the bridge is 1,192 feet (363 m). Completed in 1908, the Bulkeley Bridge is the oldest bridge in the Hartford area and one of the oldest bridges still in use in the Interstate Highway System . It is also the largest and one of the last major stone arch bridges to be built in New England. Because of its historical, architectural and engineering significance, the Bulkeley Bridge

7304-436: The town of Windsor Locks, Connecticut . The Connecticut River Valley functioned as America's hub of technical innovation into the 20th century, particularly the cities of Springfield and Hartford, and thus attracted numerous railroad lines. The proliferation of the railroads in Springfield and Hartford greatly decreased the economic importance of the Connecticut River. From the late 1800s until today, it has functioned largely as

7392-429: The watershed (Connecticut and Massachusetts) than in the northern part (Vermont and New Hampshire), largely due to differences in stream gradient and substrate. Eight of the 12 species in the watershed are listed as endangered, threatened, or of special concern in one or more of the states in the watershed. A number of colonial animal species make their home in the waters of the Connecticut. Deeper areas are habitat for

7480-530: Was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1993. The first substantial bridge across the Connecticut River at Hartford was the Hartford Toll Bridge, a two-lane covered bridge that opened in 1818. The 974 feet (297 m) span carried horse traffic, and in 1890 trolley lines were added, connecting Hartford to East Hartford and Glastonbury . On May 17, 1895, the bridge was destroyed in

7568-468: Was cut to remarkable tolerances of within a 3/8ths of an inch. When completed, the bridge connected two city streets: Morgan Street in Hartford and Hartford Avenue (now Connecticut Boulevard) in East Hartford. After his death in 1922, the span was renamed for Senator Morgan Bulkeley . The former four-term mayor of Hartford had been instrumental in the bridge's planning process. Bulkeley also served as Governor of Connecticut and United States Senator and

7656-583: Was serving as the third president of Hartford-based Aetna Life Insurance Company . He was also elected to National Baseball Hall of Fame as the first president of the National League . As horse and buggy gave way to the automobile, the Bulkeley Bridge became the most important vehicular span in the state. Until 1942, the Bulkeley was the only motor vehicle bridge across the Connecticut River between Warehouse Point in East Windsor and Middletown . It handled

7744-483: Was to take advantage of the wartime demand. In March 1936, due to a winter with heavy snowfall, an early spring thaw and torrential rains, the Connecticut River flooded, overflowing its banks, destroying numerous bridges and isolating hundreds of people who had to be rescued by boat. The dam at Vernon, Vermont , was topped by 19 feet (5.8 m). Sandbagging by the National Guard and local volunteers helped prevent

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