......the drawbridges on the
Hutchinson River and Pelham Parkway’s which cross the Hutchinson River
("Eastchester Bay") in the Bronx.
To begin, the bridges are widely hated by commuters who drive these roads. Most of the results of my Internet research resulted in foursquare posts and flicker pictures regarding being stuck in traffic because "the f@*#! bridge is up!” The bridges appear to go up as needed, on no particular schedule; for example: during prime rush hour traffic on Monday mornings.
While I cannot find much or any
information about the types of marine traffic that these drawbridges
accommodate, I was able to locate the history of the bridges themselves.
Let's just assume that barges of garbage from Co-Op City and boats going
to and from City Island are passing through. There are still operational port businesses running along the banks of the Hutchinson River. These appear to be fuel corporations and asphalt plants.
The Hutchinson River Parkway construction began in 1924. At the time the Parkway was only in Westchester (Pelham Area). Construction of the roads extended to White Plains by 1928. In 1937, the roads were being extended into the Bronx south, ending in 1941 by the Whitestone Bridge. It was at this time; in 1941, The Hutchinson River Parkway Bridge (HRPB) was opened to traffic.
The bridge is a double leaf bascule type bridge, which means it opens upwards on both sides to allow boats and barges to pass below. It is 670 feet long and 160 feet wide. There is one walkway on the North Bound side.
Much like the HRPW, the Pelham Bay Bridge (which runs off of Pelham Parkway passing Pelham Bay Park towards Shore Road and the roundabout for City Island, Orchard Beach, etc.) is the same style of bridge. It too has only one pedestrian walkway, but is slightly longer at 891 feet long. However, this bridge was already up and running in 1908, 33 years prior to the HRPB. This bridge is actually not the first, or second, or even third bridge to stand at this location. The first was destroyed by a storm on April 12th, 1816. A new bridge was not on site until 18 years later. An iron bridge was erected in 1871 and the bridge presently there was opened October 15th, 1908.
Lastly, There is also a bascule drawbridge
for the Amtrak train line in the same area, for passenger trains to and from from Penn Station.
"Completed in 1907, Pelham Bay Bridge has reached the end of its useful life and requires extensive ongoing maintenance. Its obsolete and aging components have forced Amtrak to restrict speeds to just 45 mph. The bridge has a lift span that is manned by a bridge operator. It opens several times per day for commercial boats and occasionally faces minor problems closing properly." ( http://www.nec-commission.com ).
If you thought this was boring, some fun filled facts....
-The River (and Parkway) is named for Anne Hutchinson, the religious revolutionist, who came from Rhode Island in 1642 and settled on Pelham-Neck to the east of the river, across from where Co-Op City is now. She was murdered by a group of Indians the following year. The Bronx don't play.
-Once upon a time there was a .25 cent toll located between exists 7 & 8 of the Hutch (Pelham), which were removed in 1994 - conveniently when I was at the peak of spending most of my nights in Westchester County. Before the tolls were removed, we frequently took the Bronx River to and from Westchester.
-It has been cited that Robert Moses deliberately made the bridges low on the Hutch and other parkways to stop buses carrying lower classes of people outside of New York City. This is probably true, because my research has indicated Moses was a genius and an asset, he sure loved destroying lower income neighborhoods to build the much needed highways.
Additional Interesting Reading on the Area and Topic:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split_Rock_(Bronx,_New_York)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/16/nyregion/16bridges.html
