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Adam Street Bridge

   

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Bridge Documented: May 13, 2004

Primary Photographer(s): Nathan Holth

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Key Facts

	Bridge Name	Facility Carried / Feature Intersected	Location	Structure Type	Construction Date and Builder/Engineer
	Adam Street Bridge	Adam Street Over Erie Canal	Lockport: Niagara County, New York	Metal Rivet-Connected Warren (No Verticals) Pony Truss, Movable: Vertical Lift and Approach Spans: Metal Stringer (Multi-Beam), Fixed	1917 By Builder/Contractor: Lackawanna Bridge Company of Buffalo, New York

Technical Facts

Main Span Length	Structure Length	Roadway Width	Main Spans	Approach Spans	NBI Number
96.8 Feet (29.5 Meters)	130 Feet (39.6 Meters)	23.6 Feet (7.2 Meters)	1	2	4454140

View Archived National Bridge Inventory Report - Has Additional Details and Evaluation

This bridge is closed to traffic and is at risk for demolition!

Except for the bridge tenders house, this just looks like an innocent pony truss with unusual vertical end posts. However when the Erie Canal tour boat comes up to this bridge, the whole bridge rises like a Phoenix, right of out of the ground! This bridge is a good example of one of the Erie Canal's highly unusual vertical lift bridges. While there are several surviving examples of this design on the Erie Canal, elsewhere the design is essentially nonexistent. Thus, each surviving example on the Erie Canal is significant. The bridge superstructure is a Warren pony truss bridge riveted connections. The end posts of the bridge are vertical, and extend below the deck as legs with a rack attached that is engaged by a pinion, allowing the legs to rise up, lifting the bridge. There is no v-lacing on the bridge's built-up beams. Lattice is present under the built-up top chords. The road deck is metal grate, and the sidewalks are wood, which is painted red. Old bricks form a roadway just before the bridge. Finding the one plaque remaining on the bridge required peeking behind a hazard sign which was rudely blocking the view of the plaque. The plaque identifies the Lackawanna Bridge Company of Buffalo, NY with building the bridge in 1917. Original railings remain on the cantilevered pedestrian sidewalks. There are stairs at each end which allow pedestrians to cross the bridge even when it it is raised, a typical detail of the Erie Canal lift bridges.

This bridge is one of the least altered examples of the Erie Canal lift bridges, but it also one of the most deteriorated. This bridge deserves to be rehabilitated for continued vehicular use, but its future is uncertain. The local community appears to support preservation, but it remains to be seen what NYSDOT, the owner, will decide to do.

Historic Bridges of the Erie Canal

The Erie Canal is one of the most famous and historically significant canals in the United States. Aside from the widely recognized historical significance of the canal as a transportation facility itself, a lesser known fact is that the canal is historically significant for the bridges that have spanned the canal over the years. It was here on the Erie Canal where Squire Whipple found a place to successfully get his "Whipple Arch" bowstring truss bridges constructed in significant quantities in the mid-1800s. The success of his Whipple Arch bridges helped contribute to the nationwide transition from wooden bridges to metal bridges. The period of time from 1905-1918 where the Erie Canal was upgraded and widened to become part of the larger New York State Barge Canal was a time of change for the bridges of the canal. Between the process of widening and upgrading the canal, and the nationwide trend to build more substantial bridges in the early 20th Century, the previous generation of bridges (many undoubtedly those Whipple Arch bridges) were replaced by a series of new bridges. These bridges have proved to be very durable and thanks to a clear commitment to preservation on the part of New York State Department of Transportation and other agencies, the Erie Canal, particularly the western section from Lockport to Spencerport boasts one of the highest densities of historic bridges of any waterway in the country. The vast majority of bridges on this section are maintained in beautiful condition.

Although the new bridges from the early 20th Century took a variety of forms, two forms were by far the most common. In rural or spacious areas, a fixed double-intersection Warren through truss was used, with a dirt approach providing the modest elevation needed for a fixed bridge over the canal. Double-intersection Warren truss bridges are generally considered an uncommon truss type on a nationwide basis. In urban and less spacious areas, a vertical lift bridge was used. The vertical lift bridges are an unusual design. Instead of towers that rise above the bridge in a traditional vertical lift bridge and pull the truss span up using cables, these bridges have vertical endposts which extend below the deck and into the ground. When operated, these extended endposts (called the lifting frame) rise out of the ground. In an engineering sense, these unusual vertical lift bridges might be thought of as bedstead truss bridges. Another unique feature of these lift bridges are the stairways found at each end of the bridge on the sidewalks. These stairways allow pedestrians to continue to cross the bridge when the structure is in the raised position. These vertical lift bridges continue to operate for boats today, so observing these unique bridges remains possible.

View Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) Overview of Erie Canal Locks at Lockport, NY (Alternate Format)

Erie Canal Museum

New York State Page On Erie Canal

Erie Canal History

Photos and Videos: Adam Street Bridge

Available Photo Galleries and Videos

Click on a thumbnail or gallery name below to visit that particular photo gallery. If videos are available, click on a video name to view and/or download that particular video.

 

	Bridge Photo-Documentation Original / Full Size Photos	A collection of overview and detail photos. For the best visual immersion and full detail, or for use as a desktop background, this gallery presents the photos for this bridge in the original digital camera resolution.
	Bridge Photo-Documentation Mobile Optimized Gallery	A collection of overview and detail photos. View the photos for this bridge in a reduced size which is useful for mobile/smartphone users, modem (dial-up) users, or those who do not wish to wait for the longer download times of the full-size photos. Alternatively, view this photo gallery using a popup slideshow viewer (great for mobile users) by clicking the link below. Browse Gallery With Popup Viewer

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