Canalside Rail Trail Bridge

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Canalside Rail Trail Bridge

Carries	Canalside Rail Trail
Crosses	Connecticut River
Locale	Deerfield and Montague
Design	truss bridge
Opening date	1880, 1936, 2006
Coordinates	42°34′45.3″N, 72°34′29.53″W

The Canalside Rail Trail Bridge (also known as the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad (Turners Falls Branch) Bridge) is a former New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad (Turner Falls Branch) rail bridge across the Connecticut River between Deerfield and Montague, Massachusetts. Currently being built, the Canalside Rail Trail will incorporate this bridge.

1 History and construction of the bridge
2 Image Gallery
3 See also
4 External links
5 References

[edit] History and construction of the bridge

Originally built in 1880 by Keystone Bridge Co., Pittsburgh, PA, it was partly washed away in the 1936 flood. Subsequently, it was rebuilt in 1936 by the Phoenix Bridge Company, Phoenixville, PA.

The bridge was refurbished in 2006 to be part of the new Canalside Rail Trail.^[1]^[2] However, though the bridge can now be used, the refurbishing is not complete as of July, 2007. The western pier has some stones out of place and some stones fallen off. There is currently work going on to fix this issue.

[edit] Image Gallery

Looking west along the length of the bridge from the eastern end, you can see the newly constructed wooden bridge deck and the safety railings.	This image shows the plate bolted to the western end of the first of the "new" spans put up in 1936.	This image shows the plate put up by the Keystone Bridge Company on the one span of the bridge which is circa 1880.	This image shows the bridge piers, including some of the lesser damage sustained by the western pier.
Here is the temporary road being built so that repairs can be made to the western pier.	Underside of the rail bridge, showing the main deck supports