9-682: The Third Avenue Bridge is a swing bridge that carries southbound road traffic on Third Avenue over the Harlem River , connecting the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx in New York City . It once carried southbound New York State Route 1A . On the Manhattan side, the bridge funnels traffic into three locations: East 128th Street; the intersection of East 129th Street and Lexington Avenue ; or FDR Drive in Manhattan. The bridge
18-517: A flexible walking track bridge which "swings" as you walk across.) In the UK, there is a legal definition in current statute as to what is, or is not a 'swing bridge' The largest double swing-span bridge in the United States is the 3,250 feet (990 m) long, 450 feet (140 m) navigable span, 60 feet (18 m) clearance George P. Coleman Memorial Bridge . Omaha NE Turn Style Bridge
27-544: A bridge which intersects the navigation channel at an oblique angle may be built to rotate only 45 degrees, or one-eighth turn, in order to clear the channel. Small swing bridges as found over narrow canals may be pivoted only at one end, opening as would a gate, but require substantial underground structure to support the pivot. Many inner cities have swing bridges, since these require less street space than other types of bridges. (A "swing bridge" in New Zealand refers to
36-481: The New York City Department of Transportation , which operates and maintains the bridge, reported an average daily traffic volume of 59,603; the bridge reached a peak ADT of 73,121 in 2000. Between 2000 and 2014, the bridge opened for vessels 93 times, including 60 times in 2007. On July 8, 2024, during the 2024 North America heat waves , the bridge suffered from heat expansion and got stuck in
45-520: The swing span (turning span) can then pivot horizontally as shown in the animated illustration to the right. In its closed position, a swing bridge carrying a road or railway over a river or canal , for example, allows traffic to cross. When a water vessel needs to pass the bridge, road traffic is stopped (usually by traffic signals and barriers), and then motors rotate the bridge horizontally about its pivot point. The typical swing bridge will rotate approximately 90 degrees, or one-quarter turn; however,
54-520: The Harlem", about the work leading up to the float-in of the swing span. It first aired in 2005 in Canada on Discovery Canada. Swing bridge A swing bridge (or swing span bridge ) is a movable bridge that can be rotated horizontally around a vertical axis. It has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its center of gravity, about which
63-456: The open position, so vehicles could not cross it. The New York City Fire Department sprayed water onto the bridge to cool it down. The Third Avenue Bridge carries the M125 bus route operated by MTA New York City Transit . The route's average weekday ridership is 19,951. Discovery Channel contracted Barner-Alper Productions of Toronto to produce an episode of Mega-Builders , titled "Spanning
72-602: The remaining three lanes opened in 2005. In addition to replacing the swing span and its machinery, the project included redesigned approach ramps to the bridge on the Bronx side and off the bridge in Manhattan. As reconstructed, the Third Avenue Bridge carries five lanes of Manhattan-bound traffic from the Bronx, which split to three ramps in Manhattan: to East 128th Street and Second Avenue ; to Lexington Avenue and East 129th Street; and to FDR Drive . For 2011,
81-633: Was formerly bidirectional, but converted to one-way operation southbound on August 5, 1941 on the same day the Willis Avenue Bridge was similarly converted to one-way northbound. In 1955, the original multi-truss bridge constructed in 1898 was removed and sold. A rebuilt bridge reopened in December 1956. As part of a major NYCDOT reconstruction project from 2001-2005, a new swing span was floated into place on October 29, 2004. Two lanes of Manhattan-bound traffic opened on December 6, 2004, and
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