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60-731: The High Bridge (originally the Aqueduct Bridge ) is a steel arch bridge connecting the New York City boroughs of the Bronx and Manhattan . Rising 140 ft (43 m) over the Harlem River , it is the city's oldest bridge, having opened as part of the Croton Aqueduct in 1848. The eastern end is located in the Highbridge section of the Bronx near the western end of West 170th Street, and

120-634: A competing line between New York and Chagres, George Law placed on the Pacific his own competing line of four steamships – SS Antelope , SS Columbus , SS Isthmus and SS Republic . In April 1851, the rivalry was ended when he purchased their steamers on the Atlantic side and sold his new Pacific Line and its ships on the Panama City to San Francisco run. Impressed by the returns from the short amount of line of William Henry Aspinwall 's Panama Railway , he acquired

180-505: A deck arch bridge. Any part supported from arch below may have spandrels that are closed or open. The Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Bayonne Bridge are a through arch bridge which uses a truss type arch. Also known as a bowstring arch, this type of arch bridge incorporates a tie between two opposite ends of the arch. The tie is usually the deck and is capable of withstanding the horizontal thrust forces which would normally be exerted on

240-507: A good engineer and draughtsman and became a large contractor for the construction of railroads and canals. In August 1837, one of his brothers was engaged in the construction of the Croton waterworks . He went to New York city, where he was awarded contracts for sections of the aqueduct. In 1839 he was awarded the contract for the High Bridge , by which it crosses Harlem River . In 1842 he took on

300-458: A greater passage for flood waters. Bridges with perforated spandrels can be found worldwide, such as in China ( Zhaozhou Bridge , 7th century). Greece ( Bridge of Arta , 17th century) and Wales ( Cenarth Bridge , 18th century). In more modern times, stone and brick arches continued to be built by many civil engineers, including Thomas Telford , Isambard Kingdom Brunel and John Rennie . A key pioneer

360-576: A large interest in the project in 1852. He went to the isthmus to examine the route and located the terminus at Aspinwall , where he began to build the railroad depot next to the steamship wharf . Aspinwall soon became the destination of the Panama steamships once the railroad was finished. Meanwhile, in New York he purchased the franchise of the Eighth Avenue street-railroad in New York. He sold his interest in

420-568: A link in New York's greenway system. In early 2010, a contract was signed with Lichtenstein Consulting Engineers and Chu & Gassman Consulting Engineers (MEP sub-consultant) to provide designs for the restored bridge. On January 11, 2013, the mayor's office announced the bridge would reopen for pedestrian traffic by 2014, but in August 2014, the open was postponed to spring of 2015. In May 2015,

480-448: A quantity of fill material (typically compacted rubble) above the arch in order to increase this dead-weight on the bridge and prevent tension from occurring in the arch ring as loads move across the bridge. Other materials that were used to build this type of bridge were brick and unreinforced concrete. When masonry (cut stone) is used the angles of the faces are cut to minimize shear forces. Where random masonry (uncut and unprepared stones)

540-566: A reporter for The New York Times wrote that when he had tried to walk across the bridge in 1968, it was closed. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) designated the High Bridge as a city landmark on November 15, 1970. In November 2006, the Department of Parks and Recreation announced that the bridge would reopen to pedestrians in 2009. This date was repeatedly put off. A $ 20 million renovation project would include strengthening

600-415: A result, masonry arch bridges are designed to be constantly under compression, so far as is possible. Each arch is constructed over a temporary falsework frame, known as a centring . In the first compression arch bridges, a keystone in the middle of the bridge bore the weight of the rest of the bridge. The more weight that was put onto the bridge, the stronger its structure became. Masonry arch bridges use

660-430: A three-hinged bridge has hinged in all three locations. Most modern arch bridges are made from reinforced concrete . This type of bridge is suitable where a temporary centring may be erected to support the forms, reinforcing steel, and uncured concrete. When the concrete is sufficiently set the forms and falseworks are then removed. It is also possible to construct a reinforced concrete arch from precast concrete , where

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720-428: Is a masonry, or stone, bridge where each successively higher course (layer) cantilevers slightly more than the previous course. The steps of the masonry may be trimmed to make the arch have a rounded shape. The corbel arch does not produce thrust, or outward pressure at the bottom of the arch, and is not considered a true arch . It is more stable than a true arch because it does not have this thrust. The disadvantage

780-432: Is that this type of arch is not suitable for large spans. In some locations it is necessary to span a wide gap at a relatively high elevation, such as when a canal or water supply must span a valley. Rather than building extremely large arches, or very tall supporting columns (difficult using stone), a series of arched structures are built one atop another, with wider structures at the base. Roman civil engineers developed

840-402: Is used they are mortared together and the mortar is allowed to set before the falsework is removed. Traditional masonry arches are generally durable, and somewhat resistant to settlement or undermining. However, relative to modern alternatives, such bridges are very heavy, requiring extensive foundations . They are also expensive to build wherever labor costs are high. The corbel arch bridge

900-461: The Croton Aqueduct , which carried water from the Croton River to supply the then burgeoning city of New York some 10 miles (16 km) to the south. The bridge has a height of 140 ft (43 m) above the 620-foot-wide (190 m) Harlem River, with a total length of 1,450 ft (440 m). The design of the bridge was originally awarded to Major David Bates Douglass , who was fired from

960-549: The Etruscans and ancient Greeks , the Romans were – as with the vault and the dome – the first to fully realize the potential of arches for bridge construction. A list of Roman bridges compiled by the engineer Colin O'Connor features 330 Roman stone bridges for traffic, 34 Roman timber bridges and 54 Roman aqueduct bridges , a substantial part still standing and even used to carry vehicles. A more complete survey by

1020-566: The Hudson River , a high bridge was ultimately chosen. The contractors for the project were George Law , Samuel Roberts and Arnold Mason. Mason had prior engineering experience working on the Erie Canal and the Morris Canal . In 1864, a pedestrian walkway was built across the High Bridge. The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation which is responsible for its maintenance, described

1080-517: The Italian scholar Vittorio Galliazzo found 931 Roman bridges, mostly of stone, in as many as 26 countries (including former Yugoslavia ). Roman arch bridges were usually semicircular , although a number were segmental arch bridges (such as Alconétar Bridge ), a bridge which has a curved arch that is less than a semicircle. The advantages of the segmental arch bridge were that it allowed great amounts of flood water to pass under it, which would prevent

1140-705: The Panama Railroad in the winter of 1853. He then built the Ninth Avenue Railroad and purchased the steam ferry to Staten Island , and the Grand and Roosevelt Street ferries between New York and Brooklyn . In 1852 George Law had a quarrel with Captain Valentín Cañedo y Miranda , the Spanish Captain General of Cuba , which brought him prominent public notice. Cañedo was offended because Purser Smith,

1200-587: The Parks Department announced a July opening and a July 25 festival. The ribbon was cut for the restored bridge at about 11:30 a.m. on June 9, 2015, with the bridge open to the general public at noon. The High Bridge was illuminated at night following its restoration. The High Bridge Water Tower , in Highbridge Park between West 173rd and 174th streets, on top of the ridge on the Manhattan side of High Bridge,

1260-665: The SS Georgia and with the purchased SS Falcon in early 1849 carried the first passengers by steamship to Chagres , on the east coast of the Isthmus of Panama . Soon the rapid transit time the steamship lines and the trans isthmus passage made possible when the California Gold Rush began made it a profitable company. That same year Law completed the High Bridge. When the Pacific Mail Steamship Company established

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1320-459: The William A. Hall Partnership. Christopher Gray has said of the tower's design that "Its rock-faced granite gives the tower a chunky, fortified appearance, as if it were a lookout for a much larger castle complex that was never built.... The granite is competently handled, but the details are not very inspired or elegant. The tower is more picturesque than beautiful." The interior of the tower, which

1380-436: The abutments of an arch bridge. The deck is suspended from the arch. The arch is in compression, in contrast to a suspension bridge where the catenary is in tension. A tied-arch bridge can also be a through arch bridge. An arch bridge with hinges incorporated to allow movement between structural elements. A single-hinged bridge has a hinge at the crown of the arch , a two-hinged bridge has hinges at both springing points and

1440-761: The acclaimed Florentine segmental arch bridge Ponte Vecchio (1345) combined sound engineering (span-to-rise ratio of over 5.3 to 1) with aesthetical appeal. The three elegant arches of the Renaissance Ponte Santa Trinita (1569) constitute the oldest elliptic arch bridge worldwide. Such low rising structures required massive abutments , which at the Venetian Rialto bridge and the Fleischbrücke in Nuremberg (span-to-rise ratio 6.4:1) were founded on thousands of wooden piles, partly rammed obliquely into

1500-416: The arch and the deck is known as the spandrel . If the spandrel is solid, usually the case in a masonry or stone arch bridge, the bridge is called a closed-spandrel deck arch bridge . If the deck is supported by a number of vertical columns rising from the arch, the bridge is known as an open-spandrel deck arch bridge . The Alexander Hamilton Bridge is an example of an open-spandrel arch bridge. Finally, if

1560-400: The arch is built in two halves which are then leaned against each other. Many modern bridges, made of steel or reinforced concrete, often bear some of their load by tension within their structure. This reduces or eliminates the horizontal thrust against the abutments and allows their construction on weaker ground. Structurally and analytically they are not true arches but rather a beam with

1620-422: The arch supports the deck only at the top of the arch, the bridge is called a cathedral arch bridge . This type of bridge has an arch whose base is at or below the deck, but whose top rises above it, so the deck passes through the arch. The central part of the deck is supported by the arch via suspension cables or tie bars, as with a tied-arch bridge . The ends of the bridge may be supported from below, as with

1680-522: The arch, improving staircases, cameras on both ends of the bridge, and boat beacon lights among other features. In 2009, preliminary planning, funded by PlaNYC , began for restoring the High Bridge. The High Bridge Coalition raised funds and public awareness to restore High Bridge to pedestrian and bicycle traffic, joining the Highbridge Parks in both Manhattan and the Bronx that together cover more than 120 acres (0.49 km) of parkland, and providing

1740-615: The bridge an unusually flat profile unsurpassed for more than a millennium. Trajan's bridge over the Danube featured open- spandrel segmental arches made of wood (standing on 40 m-high (130 ft) concrete piers). This was to be the longest arch bridge for a thousand years both in terms of overall and individual span length, while the longest extant Roman bridge is the 790 m-long (2,590 ft) long Puente Romano at Mérida . The late Roman Karamagara Bridge in Cappadocia may represent

1800-447: The bridge from being swept away during floods and the bridge itself could be more lightweight. Generally, Roman bridges featured wedge-shaped primary arch stones ( voussoirs ) of the same in size and shape. The Romans built both single spans and lengthy multiple arch aqueducts , such as the Pont du Gard and Segovia Aqueduct . Their bridges featured from an early time onwards flood openings in

1860-401: The bridge, which was transferred to the Parks Department in 1955. There were incidents, in 1957 and 1958, of pedestrians throwing sticks, stones, and bricks from the bridge, seriously injuring passengers on Circle Line tour boats which passed under the bridge. The bridge was closed by 1970, when high crime and fiscal crisis led to the contraction of many city services and public spaces. However,

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1920-400: The company withdrew from the business and sold its ships. Law had a steamship named after him. The SS George Law was later renamed SS Central America . She sank in a three-day and night hurricane carrying most of her passengers, gold bullion then valued at US$ 2,000,000 and Commander William Lewis Herndon down with her. The sinking of the ship with the loss of so much gold contributed to

1980-414: The design and constructed highly refined structures using only simple materials, equipment, and mathematics. This type is still used in canal viaducts and roadways as it has a pleasing shape, particularly when spanning water, as the reflections of the arches form a visual impression of circles or ellipses. This type of bridge comprises an arch where the deck is completely above the arch. The area between

2040-550: The earliest surviving bridge featuring a pointed arch. In medieval Europe, bridge builders improved on the Roman structures by using narrower piers , thinner arch barrels and higher span-to-rise ratios on bridges. Gothic pointed arches were also introduced, reducing lateral thrust, and spans increased as with the eccentric Puente del Diablo (1282). The 14th century in particular saw bridge building reaching new heights. Span lengths of 40 m (130 ft), previously unheard of in

2100-411: The entire structure. Local organizations called to preserve the historic bridge, and, in 1927, five of the original arches across the river were replaced by a single steel span, while the remaining arches were retained. Originally designed as a stone arch bridge , the High Bridge had the appearance of a Roman aqueduct . Construction on the bridge was started in 1837, and was completed in 1848 as part of

2160-688: The final analysis, only the Croton River in northern Westchester County was found to carry water sufficient in quantity and quality to serve the City. The delivery system was begun in 1837, and was completed in 1848. The Old Croton Aqueduct was the first of its kind ever constructed in the United States. The innovative system used a classic gravity feed, dropping 13 inches (330 mm) per mile, or about 1/4" per 100' (~0.02%) and running 41 miles (66 km) into New York City through an enclosed masonry structure crossing ridges, valleys, and rivers. University Avenue

2220-492: The grounds to counteract more effectively the lateral thrust. In China, the oldest existing arch bridge is the Zhaozhou Bridge of 605 AD, which combined a very low span-to-rise ratio of 5.2:1, with the use of spandrel arches (buttressed with iron brackets). The Zhaozhou Bridge, with a length of 167 feet (51 m) and span of 123 feet (37 m), is the world's first wholly stone open-spandrel segmental arch bridge, allowing

2280-443: The history of masonry arch construction, were now reached in places as diverse as Spain ( Puente de San Martín ), Italy ( Castelvecchio Bridge ) and France ( Devil's bridge and Pont Grand ) and with arch types as different as semi-circular, pointed and segmental arches. The bridge at Trezzo sull'Adda , destroyed in the 15th century, even featured a span length of 72 m (236 ft), not matched until 1796. Constructions such as

2340-608: The management of the Dry Dock bank . Later he purchased and extended the New York and Harlem Railroad and Mohawk Railroad . He bought the steamer SS  Neptune in 1843, then built the SS ; Oregon in 1845. With Marshall O. Roberts and Bowes R. McIlvaine he formed the U.S. Mail Steamship Company and assumed the contract to carry the US mails to California. The company built the SS Ohio and

2400-821: The piers, e.g. in the Pons Fabricius in Rome (62 BC), one of the world's oldest major bridges still standing. Roman engineers were the first and until the Industrial Revolution the only ones to construct bridges with concrete , which they called Opus caementicium . The outside was usually covered with brick or ashlar , as in the Alcántara Bridge . The Romans also introduced segmental arch bridges into bridge construction. The 330 m-long (1,080 ft) Limyra Bridge in southwestern Turkey features 26 segmental arches with an average span-to-rise ratio of 5.3:1, giving

2460-545: The project. The design then fell to the aqueduct's engineering team, led by John B. Jervis . James Renwick Jr. , who later went on to design the landmark Saint Patrick's Cathedral on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan , participated in the design. The Croton Aqueduct had to cross the Harlem River at some point, and the method was a major design decision. A tunnel under the river was considered, but tunneling technology

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2520-477: The purser of one of Law's vessels, had published statements in US publications critical of the colonial Cuban government. He was further offended by the anti-Cuban remarks of Admiral David Porter . The Spanish government refused entrance to any vessel with Purser Smith or Admiral David Porter aboard. The US government did not support George Law in his determination to send the SS Crescent City to Havana with

2580-541: The purser on board; when Law persisted, the US government withdrew the mail. In fact, Fillmore wrote to Cañedo to request that he rescind his ban and presented Cañedo with an affidavit exonerating Smith. Cañedo withdrew the ban at Fillmore's request. Law dispatched the steamship and Captain-general Cañedo failed to fire her. In several public letters, Law attacked both the Fillmore and the Pierce administrations for cowardice. Law

2640-555: The river were demolished and replaced with a single steel arch of about 450 feet (140 m). Of the masonry arches of the original 1848 bridge, only one survives on the Manhattan side, while nine survive on the Bronx side. Use of the structure to deliver water to Manhattan ceased on December 15, 1949. By 1954, The New York Times reported that the commissioner of the Department of Water Supply, Gas and Electricity said that "the bridge entailed serious problems of maintenance and vandalism". Robert Moses agreed to take responsibility for

2700-451: The shape of an arch. See truss arch bridge for more on this type. A modern evolution of the arch bridge is the long-span through arch bridge . This has been made possible by the use of light materials that are strong in tension such as steel and prestressed concrete. "The Romans were the first builders in Europe, perhaps the first in the world, fully to appreciate the advantages of the arch,

2760-533: The site of a play center and public pool built in 1934–1936 – which then provided water to be lifted to the tower's 47,000 US gallons (180 m) tank. This "high service" improved the water system's gravity pressure, necessary because of the increased use of flush toilets . The High Bridge system reached its full capacity by 1875. With the opening of the New Croton Aqueduct in 1890, the High Bridge system became less relied upon; during World War I , it

2820-547: The structure. Notes Arch bridge Possibly the oldest existing arch bridge is the Mycenaean Arkadiko Bridge in Greece from about 1300 BC. The stone corbel arch bridge is still used by the local populace. The well-preserved Hellenistic Eleutherna Bridge has a triangular corbel arch. The 4th century BC Rhodes Footbridge rests on an early voussoir arch. Although true arches were already known by

2880-594: The trades of masonry and stonemasonry in Hoosic . He was employed with the Delaware and Hudson Canal in 1825, then superintended the making of canal-locks at High Falls . Afterward he went to the mountains of Pennsylvania to quarry stone for locks and was employed as a mechanic on canals. In June 1829, he was awarded a contract for a small lock and aqueduct on the Delaware and Hudson Canal. Self-taught, he studied and made himself

2940-467: The vault and the dome." George Law (financier) George Law (October 25, 1806 – November 18, 1881) was an American entrepreneur and failed presidential candidate for the American Party in the 1856 United States presidential election from New York. His only early education was winter night school. At the age of eighteen, he left his father's farm and after walking to Troy , he learned

3000-469: The walkway as the bridge's contemporary High Line . As part of a U.S. federal government initiative to improve navigation along the Harlem River, in 1923, a New York City Board of Estimate committee recommended demolishing the High Bridge. The bridge's stones would have been reused for a bridge carrying Riverside Drive above Dyckman Street in Inwood, Manhattan . In 1928, the five masonry arches that spanned

3060-408: The western end is located in Highbridge Park in Manhattan, roughly parallel to the end of West 174th Street. High Bridge was originally completed in 1848 with 16 individual stone arches. In 1928, the five that spanned the Harlem River were replaced by a single 450-foot (140 m) steel arch. The bridge was closed to all traffic from around 1970 until its restoration, which began in 2009. The bridge

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3120-402: Was Jean-Rodolphe Perronet , who used much narrower piers, revised calculation methods and exceptionally low span-to-rise ratios. Different materials, such as cast iron , steel and concrete have been increasingly used in the construction of arch bridges. Stone, brick and other such materials are strong in compression and somewhat so in shear , but cannot resist much force in tension . As

3180-523: Was built in 1866–1872 to help meet the ever-increasing demands on the city's water system. The 200-foot (61 m) octagonal tower, which was authorized by the State Legislature in 1863, was designed by John B. Jervis , the engineer who supervised the building of the High Bridge Aqueduct. Water was pumped up 100 feet (30 m) to a 7-acre (2.8 ha) reservoir next to the tower – now

3240-495: Was completely shut down when sabotage was feared. In 1949, the tower was removed from service, and a carillon , donated by the Altman Foundation, was installed in 1958. The tower's cupola was damaged by an arson fire in 1984. It was reconstructed, and the tower's load-bearing exterior stonework – which Jervis designed in a mixture of Romanesque Revival and neo-Grec styles – was cleaned and restored in 1989–1990 by

3300-531: Was in its infancy at the time, and the uncertainty of pursuing this option led to its rejection. This left a bridge, with the Water Commission, engineers and the public split between a low bridge and a high bridge. A low bridge would have been simpler, faster, and cheaper to construct. When concerns were raised to the New York Legislature that a low bridge would obstruct passage along the Harlem River to

3360-546: Was later built over the southernmost mainland portion of the aqueduct, leading to the bridge. Though the carrying capacity was enlarged in 1861–1862 with a larger tube, the bridge became obsolete in 1910 with the opening of the New Croton Aqueduct . In the 1920s, the bridge's masonry arches were declared a hazard to ship navigation by the United States Army Corps of Engineers , and the City considered demolishing

3420-581: Was never open to the public, features a wide well-detailed iron spiral staircase with six large landings and paired windows. The High Bridge Water Tower was designated a New York City landmark by the Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1967. The High Bridge Water Tower underwent a 10-year, $ 5 million renovation during the 2010s and reopened to the public in November 2021. After the water tower reopened, NYC Parks began hosting free tours of

3480-596: Was nominated as the Native American Party or Know-Nothing candidate for President of the United States in February 1855 by the Pennsylvania Legislature, but Millard Fillmore , one of the U.S. Presidents whom Law had attacked, was chosen as that party's candidate for the 1856 Election . The U.S. Mail Steamship Company only operated for 11 years. Upon the mail contract and subsidy 's expiration in 1859

3540-631: Was reopened to pedestrians and bicycles on June 9, 2015. The bridge is operated and maintained by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation . The High Bridge was part of the first reliable and plentiful water supply system in New York City. As the City was devastated by cholera in 1832 and the Great Fire in 1835 , the inadequacy of the water system of wells-and-cisterns became apparent. Numerous corrective measures were examined. In

3600-401: Was then nicknamed "Live-Oak George", coined by the workmen in his shipyard because of Law's insistence on building ships with the best materials; for critical parts of hull construction, including the braces that supported the decks, the preferred material was live oak wood. Law was recognized by some for his stand against government inactivity in the face of a threat to a U. S. citizen, and

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