Cape Cod Canal Railroad Bridge

The Cape Cod Canal Railroad Bridge (also known as the Buzzards Bay Railroad Bridge), a vertical lift bridge in Bourne, Massachusetts near Buzzards Bay, carries railroad traffic across the Cape Cod Canal, connecting Cape Cod with the mainland.

Design and construction

The bridge was constructed beginning in 1933 by the Public Works Administration from a design by firms Parsons, Klapp, Brinckerhoff, and Douglas as well as Mead and White (both of New York), for the United States Army Corps of Engineers, which operates both the bridge and the canal. The bridge has a 544-foot (166 m) main span, with a 135-foot (41 m) clearance when raised, uses 1,100-short-ton (1,000 t) counterweights on each end, and opened on December 29, 1935. The bridge replaced a bascule bridge that had been built in 1910.

At the time of ist completion, it was the longest vertical lift span in the world. It is now the second longest lift bridge in the United States, the longest being the Arthur Kill Vertical Lift Bridge between New Jersey and Staten Island, New York.

Maintenance and current use

The bridge is owned, operated and maintained by the US Army Corps of Engineers. In 2002, the Cape Cod Canal Railroad Bridge underwent a major rehabilitation, including replacement of cables, machinery, and electrical systems, at a cost of $30 million and was reopened in 2003.

The rail line over the bridge, owned by MassDOT, is used by Massachusetts Coastal Railroad and seasonal tourist trains operated by the Cape Cod Central Railroad. The bridge is also used by the CapeFLYER, a seasonal passenger train that began operation between Boston South Station and Hyannis on May 24, 2013.

Text imported from Wikipedia article "Cape Cod Canal Railroad Bridge" and modified on July 23, 2019 according to the CC-BY-SA 4.0 International license.