With two hours’ notice, a city-employed bridge tender can be summoned to the bridge operator’s house, a small brick structure, on the increasingly rare occasions when the Carroll Street Bridge needs to be opened.
Carroll Street Bridge can be opened with two hours' notice.
“One of the things we’ve learned is that the substructure of the bridge is in worse condition than anyone understood,” said Brian Carr, assistant regional counsel at the EPA, at the January meeting. “There were repairs that were going to be needed one way or the other, and driving the piles in and all, if the bridge had been in decent condition, would have provided future stability for the bridge.”
Discovering in 2021 that Carroll Street Bridge was in worse shape than was originally understood.
The Carroll Street Bridge will likely remain closed long past the currently-projected March 31 cutoff as federal and city agencies work to assess and address structural issues on the span.
2021 acknowledging likely delays in Carroll Street Bridge reopening.
Last summer, engineers started work installing “pipe piles,” which would help stabilize the bridge when the federal EPA and the city begin dredging in the area. After a few months of pile driving, though, engineers realized the work was damaging the structure, and the EPA decided to reassess their plans for supporting the structure and cleaning up the 10 feet of infamous “Black Mayonnaise” beneath the Carroll Street Bridge and the Union Street bridges, Tsiamis said at a September meeting of the CAG.
Installation of "pipe pulls" damaged Carroll Street Bridge in 2020-21.
From November 2020 until April 2021, workers will stabilize the Carroll Street Bridge ahead of dredging around it by sinking so-called pipe piles at the edges of the bridge bases on either side.
Carroll Street Bridge was originally closed in November 2020 for stabilization work. It was scheduled to reopen in April 2021. It ended up staying closed until June 2026.
It is not really a restoration; city agencies are subject only to comment, not regulation, by the landmarks panel. So the Department of Transportation is leaving the 1940's handrail and demolishing the brick engine house, although it says it will reconstruct it from the salvaged bricks. But the bridge will be repainted its original color - still undetermined - and it will be nice to see it glide closed on its 100th birthday.
1987-89 restoration of Carroll Street Bridge re-painted bridge to original color.
An existing Carroll Street Bridge was closed in 1887 and its replacement became an issue. Local property owners preferred the retractile type which slides the bridge back diagonally on rails to rest on one shore but this meant buying more land, which the City of Brooklyn was loath to do.
NYC had to buy property to make Carroll Street Bridge retractile.
The unusual 1889 retractile-type bridge - the oldest in the country - has been left open since 1986, but the department has been repairing it since last December and it should be working in time for its 100th anniversary on Sept. 19.
The Carroll Street Bridge opened on September 19, 1889.
There is an original Belgian block approach, and the bridge is wooden-planked.
Noting "original Belgian block approach" to Carroll Street Bridge.
The bridge is drawn in and out by cables from the engine or operator’s house on the west side of the canal and opens a 36-footwide channel in the canal.
Carroll Street Bridge operated from operator's house on west side of Gowanus Canal.
It continues to operate today essentially as it did when it first opened.
Carroll Street Bridge operates close to the same today as when it opened in 1889.
The Carroll Street Bridge is a retractile bridge crossing the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn. The bridge, which was opened to traffic in 1889, supports a 17 foot wide roadway and two 4.5 foot sidewalks.
Official Carroll Street Bridge facts from NYC DOT.
As recently as the 1990s, the Carroll Street Bridge was retracted almost twice daily in order to allow passage for waterborne traffic to and from the paint factories, oil depots, sand and gravel suppliers, and warehouses lining the canal, but with the decline of industry in the area these deliveries have since become far less frequent.
Carroll Street Bridge retracted almost twice daily as recently as the 1990s.
We begin our tour at the Carroll Street Bridge over the Gowanus Canal. The cobblestone approach and wood planks attest to the fact that this is no ordinary bridge. In fact, it is the oldest of four retractile bridges in the United States (constructed in 1889), and it is the only wooden bridge in the city that carries cars.
Noting that the Carroll Street Bridge is the only wooden NYC bridge that still carries cars (no longer the case as of June 2026).
The Carroll Street Bridge, constructed in 1889, spans the 36-foot-wide (11 m) channel of the Gowanus Canal and has a total length of 107 feet (33 m). The bridge uses a wooden deck to support one traffic lane and two sidewalks. The steel superstructure uses a king-post truss. In plan, the span has a trapezoidal shape, due to the angled joint between the movable span and the fixed abutment. The operating machin- ery is contained in an adjacent control house, from which wire ropes connect to the movable span. Wheels, riding on rails, are mounted underneath the movable span. The rails allow the bridge to roll away from the channel at an angle of approximately 45° from the center of the roadway.
In-depth explanation of the mechanics of the Carroll Street Bridge in Gowanus, Brooklyn.
However, this type was once common in Boston, with a dozen examples and a handful of rolling retractile bridges remaining in service in the United States, including the historically land- marked Carroll Street Bridge in Brooklyn, NY. T
Noting the Carroll Street Bridge as one of the few examples of an extant rolling retractable bridge.
A notable civil engineer, Charles O.H. Fritzche, developed the mechanical system.
Charles O.H. Fritzche developed Carroll Street Bridge mechanical system.
Many notable names were involved in the construction of the Carroll Street Bridge. Robert van Buren, a descendant of U.S. President Martin van Buren and Chief Engineer of the Bureau of Construction, oversaw the project.
Carroll Street Bridge construction overseen by Robert Van Buren, a descendent of the 8th President of the United States, Martin van Buren.
It may be inferred through historic documents that the use of a retractable bridge at this span was possibly due to the fact that an earlier design for the bridge would have required acquiring a piece of private property that the Common Council was having trouble purchasing at the time. The Landmarks Preservation Commission noted that retractable bridges are “employed to provide channel clearance in locations where other bridge types are impractical.”
Speculation that Carroll Street Bridge was made to be retractable because other design ideas would have required Brooklyn to obtain more land.
It was originally powered by steam, but was converted to electric in 1907-08.
The Carroll Street Bridge was steam-powered from 1889 to 1907-08 and electric ever since.
Retractable, or retractile bridges, open to allow water vessels to pass through, and the Carroll Street Bridge uses a mechanism that takes the whole span of the bridge and rolls it diagonally on wheels along steel rails using pulleys and wire cables.
Explaining the mechanics of the Carroll Street Bridge in Gowanus, Brooklyn.
The unique style of the this bridge gained it landmark status in 1987, with the Landmarks Preservation Commission citing its “rare and unusual” qualities.
Carroll Street Bridge granted landmark status in 1987.
As a retractile draw, the bridge opens by physically sliding out of the navigation channel on a set of three steel rails, pulled by an electrically operated pulley system. The moving portion of the bridge is a 107-foot long trapezoidal deck, supported in the middle by an iron post-and-truss frame that gives the superstructure the appearance of a suspension bridge. The operating controls for the bridge are located in a polygonal brick house on the west side of the site. The house was built during the bridge’s overhaul project of bricks salvaged from the demolition of the old operating house. One of the more interesting features of the bridge, a sign threatening a five dollar fine for anyone driving over the bridge faster than a walker’s pace, was also added during the overhaul.
Explaining the mechanics of how the Carroll Street Bridge in Gowanus, Brooklyn, opens.
The bridge was built between 1888-1889 by the New Jersey Steel & Iron Company. It replaced a wooden swing bridge that had become so rotten over the years that city engineers were forced to close it in early 1887 to everything but pedestrian traffic, fearing it would collapse under anything heavier.
The Carroll Street Bridge was built between 1888-1889 by the New Jersey Steel & Iron Company to replace a rotting wooden swing bridge that had been closed in 1887.
Construction of the new one was begun at the end of the year. It opened in September the following year, completed at a cost of $29,600.
The Carroll Street Bridge in Gowanus, Brooklyn, was completed at a cost of $29,600 from 1888-89.
The Department of Transportation closed the bridge in 1985 after an inspection revealed multiple holes in the road deck, seriously corroded steel, and a broken operating mechanism. After a $1.5 million overhaul by city workers, the bridge was able to reopen to traffic just in time for the 100th anniversary of its initial opening in 1989.
The Carroll Street Bridge was closed in 1985 due to "holes in the road deck, seriously corroded steel, and a broken operating mechanism." It was reopened for its 100th anniversary in 1989.
The Carroll Street Bridge is a retractile drawbridge that crosses the Gowanus Canal in the borough of Brooklyn. It is notable as the oldest surviving retractile bridge in the United States, with only three others still in existence: two non-operational draws in Boston, and one carrying Borden Avenue over Dutch Kills in the borough of Queens.
The Carroll Street Bridge, which crosses the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn, is the oldest surving retractile bridge in the United States (1889).
How do we manage to recover from the interlude of slumber? It is, of course, memory that allows us to experience this feeling of continuity.
for - adjacency - sleep - continuity - memory is the bridge!
The Collapse of the Key Bridge by [[Martha S. Jones]]
The current issue revolves around an emerging disruption in mid-Atlantic supply chains. The major East Coast port is now paralyzed due to the mangled bridge blocking the only shipping lane in and out of the harbor.
Well, yes, when bridges fall in the water they block the water where they've fallen. They'll be able to focus on clearing the main channel first and get the port operating with cranes and scrapping crews once the investigation captures evidence on that section (likely scans and photographs of how they debris fell).
Not all of the bridge needs to be picked up for traffic to be restored. Highway travel impacts are likely to take longer, but adding car ferry service would be an option until a temporary span can be put in place until a permanent replacement can be erected.
After I had been searching for ways to flesh out this parallel between contemplative and scientific research, through the common element of a lab method, I finally stumbled upon the Husserlian epoche as a stepping stone or connection piece between the two
for: bridge between - scientific and contemplative world
comment
Tiago Forte makes a “Hemingway bridge” for his projects
hat we want is to be able to leave Facebook and still talk to our friends, instead of having many Facebooks.
What about Matrix?
Hemingway Bridge.” He wouldalways end a writing session only when he knew what came next inthe story. Instead of exhausting every last idea and bit of energy, hewould stop when the next plot point became clear. This meant thatthe next time he sat down to work on his story, he knew exactlywhere to start. He built himself a bridge to the next day, using today’senergy and momentum to fuel tomorrow’s writing.
It's easier to write when you know where you're going. As if to underline this Ernest Hemingway would end his writing sessions when he knew where he was going the following day so that it would be easier to pick up the thread of the story and continue on. (sourcing?)
(Why doesn't Forte have a source for this Hemingway anecdote? Where does it come from? He footnotes or annotates far more obscure pieces, why not this?!)
link to - Stephen Covey quote “begin with the end in mind” (did this prefigure the same common advice in narrative circles including Hollywood?)
Ben: And so, we left, and we went to Acuña across from Del Rio (Texas) and then, "No, just wait for me across the bridge. I'll be right there.” So, "No, no no.” So, I got a taxicab straight across the bridge. But I had already had my Texas driver's license and social security card brought to me in case they questioned me, then I could say, "US.” And that's all I did, just told them I was a US citizen, they just…It wasn't like it is right now. Right now, even a US citizen is going to have trouble getting across the bridge [Laughs].
Time in the US, Arriving in the US
nefarious pseudo-open standards, a la bridge
plus silly approach to problem solving
Social scientists call the person connecting these two otherwise separate clusters a “bridge tie.” Research shows that weak ties are more likely to be bridges between disparate groups.