Cheshire Bridge (Connecticut River)

Cheshire Bridge
1930 Cheshire Bridge over the Connecticut River
1930 Cheshire Bridge over the Connecticut River
Coordinates43°15′38″N 72°25′38″W / 43.260452°N 72.427319°W / 43.260452; -72.427319
Carries2 lanes of roadway
trains (until 1984)
CrossesConnecticut River
Characteristics
Designthree-span Pennsylvania truss
Total length489 feet (149 m)
History
Constructed byMcClintic-Marshall Co.
Construction end1806, 1906, 1930
Construction costUS$225,000 (US$4,100,000 with inflation[1])
Opened1930
Statistics
Tollnone since 2001
Location
Map

The Cheshire Bridge spans the Connecticut River between Charlestown, New Hampshire, and Springfield, Vermont.[2][3]

History

The first bridge at this location was completed in 1806 by the Cheshire Bridge Co.[4] and was described as a Town lattice covered toll bridge, a wooden covered bridge. In 1897 the bridge was purchased by the Springfield Electric Railway.

In 1906 the old bridge was replaced by the Iron Bridge Co., at a cost of US$65,000 (US$2,200,000 with inflation[1]).[5] It was a three-span steel Pratt truss bridge, which had a 600-foot (180 m) span and a 20-foot (6.1 m)-wide roadway. Vehicles ran both ways, and also freight and passenger cars. In 1930 the bridge was replaced by the McClintic-Marshall Co. of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at a cost of US$225,000 (US$4,100,000 with inflation[1]).[6] It is a three-span Pennsylvania truss that is 489 feet (149 m) feet long.

The bridge was purchased by the state of New Hampshire in 1992. Tolls were collected until 2001.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
  2. ^ "Cheshire Bridge". Bridgehunter.com. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  3. ^ John Farmer; Jacob Bailey Moore (1823). A gazetteer of the state of New-Hampshire, by J. Farmer and J.B. Moore. pp. 94–.
  4. ^ Henry Hamilton Saunderson (1876). History of Charlestown, New Hampshire: The Old No. 4, Embracing the Part Borne by Its Inhabitants in the Indian, French and Revolutionary Wars, and the Vermont Controversy; Also Genealogies and Sketches of Families, from Its Settlement to 1876. Claremont Manufacturing Company. pp. 685–.
  5. ^ "Cheshire Bridge". Connecticut River Bridges.
  6. ^ Glenn A. Knoblock (25 January 2012). Historic Iron and Steel Bridges in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. McFarland. pp. 182–. ISBN 978-0-7864-8699-1.
  7. ^ "New Hampshire Eliminates Connecticut River Toll". Trucking Info.