Mount Hope Bridge, Bristol-Portsmouth, Rhode Island

Mount Hope Bridge, Bristol, RI

About a year and a half back, I capped off a post about a trip to the Braga Bridge in Fall River with a tease about a sighting of a suspension bridge far in the distance -- the Mount Hope Bridge. And that was the last I posted for months.

I wasn't thrilled by any of the pictures I took that day, really, and considered it kind of a wasted trip. A viaduct hunt had not gone well. The Braga Bridge was lit all wrong. Another bridge I wanted to photograph, I could only see when I was driving over it. And they NEVER let you get out of your car on those things. Got home, saw these pictures, and they just didn't do the bridge any justice at all. Because this is a gorgeous bridge.

It's also the only bridge that will get you onto Aquidneck Island (and down to Newport) without a toll. You might wonder if it's worth the inconvenience of coming into the area from the north to use this bridge just to avoid a few bucks in tolls, but my father would go ten miles out of his way to avoid a four bit toll, so... keep that in mind.

Driving over the Mount Hope Bridge

I wasn't holding my phone to take these pictures as I drove. I have a dash mount for the phone. Regret not bringing it for the Bourne Bridge last weekend, but anyway.

The Mount Hope Bridge was completed in 1929, just days before the stock market crash and the Great Depression. It's over a mile long and 135 feet high in the middle. There's several parks in the area, and if you're into sailing -- you're just not going to find a prettier group of bridges to sail under than the three that cross the Narragansett Bay.

This was a warm, September day -- after the America's Cup races, I think. I missed those because of the crowds. I did get a really good look at the underside of the bridge from one of these parks, one that seemed claimed by locals.

Underside of Mount Hope Bridge

I've seen this kind of cladding beneath bridges many times -- in the Sagamore Bridge post, you can see sheeting covering the bottom of the bridge in both directions. I'm not sure why they put it there. In this case, it might be to protect the people working on the bridge. Dunno.

The Mount Hope bridge was the longest suspension bridge in New England until the nearby Clairborne-Pell Bridge took the crown some years later.

The longest covered bridge in New England (and, until 2008, in the entire country) is going to be the topic of the next post, maybe. In a year and a half :)

Maybe!

Mid-Hudson Bridge, Poughkeepsie-Highland, NY

Franklin D. Roosevelt Mid-Hudson Bridge from Walkway Over the Hudson

I'm listening to Joseph Bertolozzi explain to me the various sounds the Mid-Hudson Bridge makes when you hit various parts of it with various kinds of hammers and mallets. This is the "album only" track from his 2009 album "Bridge Music", percussion music composed and played solely with sounds produced by the Mid-Hudson Bridge.

Bridge Music

You can hear this music on the bridge itself at the various listening stations, or on the radio.

Mid-Hudson Bridge and Walkway Over the Hudson

Because there were no fixed bridges across the Hudson south of Albany at the time, the Mid-Hudson Bridge   between Poughkeepsie and Highland was proposed in 1923 and opened in 1930 to fill a desperate need for road access. Then-governor Franklin D. Roosevelt, who grew up in nearby Hyde Park, was on hand for the opening of the bridge which would, in 1994, be renamed after him.

Detail of the underside of the bridge

The bridge is 3,000 feet long and rises 135 feet above the Hudson. It carries state routes 55 and 44 over the river, and the toll is $1.50 heading east. I didn't have to pay because I took my bike this time.

The pedestrian walkway on the north side is part of a loop trail that connects with the linear park on the old Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge, now known as the Walkway Over the Hudson, and the topic of another post. Plans are to eventually connect this loop trail -- about three miles -- with the Dutchess County Rail Trail system.

The cable stays on the west end of the bridge

Parking is available at both ends of the Walkway Over the Hudson, with easy access to both the bridges. The pictures from ground level, below the bridges, were at the end of Mile Hill Road, which leads to a small isolated riverfront community.

If you're on a bicycle, you really have to respect roads called Long Hill Road, Mile Hill Road and so on, because... they aren't lying. Mile Hill Road would have been a fun descent if I were any sort of fan of screaming down strange curvy roads at 50 mph, but I have to admit I was clenching the brakes the whole way down. And I walked the bike the whole way back up, too. I'm not proud.

There were a couple more bridges I wanted to get this trip, but I'd been in the sun long enough for one day. The Rip Van Winkle Bridge is just going to have to wait.

Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge, Jamestown-Newport, RI

Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge from Naval Station Newport

I kinda suspected I'd find myself sneaking into the Navy base to get a picture of this bridge. This was the weekend of the America's Cup race in Narragansett Bay. I'd hoped that the America's Cup catamarans would be sailing up to and under this bridge, but the course went toward the Long Island Sound and not this way.

I still thought maybe I could get a picture of the boats with the bridge in the background, but after a few attempts at dealing with Sailing Week traffic, parking and tourists, I just gave up trying to fit the race into my pictures and went looking for the shot. Maps had shown that the best vantage point on Aquidneck Island would be from the naval base, and I didn't know their policy on letting tourists with no Navy business on base to take pictures.

So I parked a bit away and just walked on to the base (though not all the way to the guard station). Took the shots and left. But, damn. Those Navy folks sure like their boats.

Newport Bridge from Jamestown

The Pell Bridge is New England's longest suspension bridge. It has a Warren truss deck that rises up to 215 feet above Narragansett Bay. The two towers are an astonishing 400 feet high. You can see the towers of this bridge from the central rise of the Jamestown Verrazzano Bridge, which is kinda cool.

The toll is a walloping $4.00 in each direction. Not all bad news, though. One of the best views of this bridge is from the tollbooth, where the road curves around a cove. There is a rocky beach that sits too low to get the good picture. You'd have to take it from the car. I did not expect the view and didn't have my phone taking pictures from the dash. I got the picture above on my way off the island, and it's just... okay.

Pell bridge towers

CC-BY-SA-3.0/Matt H. Wade at Wikipedia

I also fell short on getting pictures of the cathedral-style towers as I crossed the bridge, so I am borrowing the shot from Wikipedia (with attribution!) just so I can point them out here. They utterly dwarf the traffic; I'd think they'd be happier if cars and trucks never sullied their pristine bridge.

It's hard to get a good picture of the bridge from some publicly accessible place. The east side of Conanicut(*) Island is probably the easiest place; there's lots of tourist and boating places. I just parked in a beachfront condo parking spot for the middle picture (actually a panorama of about a half dozen pictures). I parked in some marine supply shop's parking lot and walked into the Navy base for the top picture.

Newport is mostly interested in getting people to its shops and tourist attractions and not letting them hang around taking pictures of bridges. If you are interested in quaint shops and tourist attractions, Newport has you covered. 

(*) Connecticut and Conanicut sound so similar that they must be related... I thought... wrongly. Conanicut is named after Conanicus, a Narragansett Indian who gave permission for the English to use the island for grazing sheep. I'm betting he regretted that decision. Connecticut, on the other hand, is named for the Connecticut River, called "quinetucket" by the Algonquins.

The Algonquins

George Washington Bridge, Manhattan, NY - Fort Lee, NJ

George Washington Bridge from Fort Tryon Park

I had business in New Jersey this morning. I got lost, as usual, and didn't approach the George Washington Bridge the way I normally do -- where before I know it, I'm on the bridge, staring in wonder at the towering, um, towers and the massive cables. Instead, I'd gotten lost in Yonkers and ended up crossing the Henry Hudson Bridge (sorry, no pictures) into Manhattan and taking Route 9A down along the Hudson River and seeing, for the first time, the bridge from the side.

This picture, I took on the way back, when the sun was hidden by clouds. If there'd been a place to pull off the highway and take a shot of the bridge illuminated by the morning sun, just broken through storm clouds, I absolutely would have.

This bridge makes over a million dollars for the city of New York, every single day. They got my $12. And $8 for crossing the Henry Hudson Bridge twice. It's like they don't want you to come into Manhattan.

I paid my $12. I was going to look around. I headed down Broadway (yes, the Broadway) to 187th, took a left and a right, dodged some double parked cars and came to Fort Tryon Park. This beautiful riverside park is home to the flower & heather gardens, miles of bike and pedestrian walkways, open areas everywhere... and the Cloisters.

Cloisters @ Fort Tryon Park

I found lots of friends there; a family of woodchucks was showing off for the tourists, and birds were everywhere. I got this little guy looking very happy with himself about something.

Sparrow resting

He was one of a group, but I was using the 500mm lens and it was impossible to keep more than one in focus with the super shallow depth of field. They looked awful. Except this one.

George Washington Bridge from Fort Tryon Park

There is plenty of parking in Fort Tryon Park; park near the entrance to explore the Washington Heights/Inwood sections of Manhattan, park further down to walk among the gardens and forests, or keep going to the Cloisters and walk the grounds or take a tour through the museum.

If you want to cross the bridge without having to take your car, grab your bicycle or your walking shoes and head over, though you might want to start from the New Jersey side. Manhattan traffic is terrible. The pedestrian/bicycle walkway was filled with people on two wheels or two feet. It truly is an experience.

Whitestone Bridge, Bronx-Queens, NY

Bronx-Whitestone Bridge

It's a big bridge to be found by accident, but that's how I came by it. I was headed down the Merritt Parkway, hoping to get half decent car pictures of those bridges (I did, some of them). I'd gotten a bonus bridge at the Sikorsky factory. Since the Merritt Parkway leaves off in New York, I wondered if I could get a quick borough bridge  Maybe the Brooklyn Bridge. That would be a nice one.

I blindly followed Google Maps and saw I was about to come to the Whitestone Bridge -- and it had a toll. It also had a park right next to it... and it suddenly became the NYC bridge of the day (followed soon after by the Pelham Bridge, but that's a topic for another, shorter post).

Whitestone Bridge

The Whitestone Bridge crosses the East River, connecting the borough of the Bronx with the borough of Queens. Construction was managed by famous civil engineer Robert Moses, who, in his typical ruthless efficiency, tore down as many Queens homes as necessary to anchor the bridge. He and designer Othmarr Ammann would later collaborate on the nearby Throgs Neck Bridge, which I did not visit this trip.

The Bronx side of the bridge rises from Ferry Point Park. Bronx has many really nice parks; Ferry Point Park, though, has a wonderful view of Manhattan and is incredibly accessible.

Ferry Point Park

There is no pedestrian or bicycle access to the bridge. There is ample parking at Ferry Point Park, with easy access from route I-678. As mentioned before, you'll pay handsomely to take a jaunt to Queens on the bridge -- and you'll pay on the way back as well. At least the George Washington Bridge has the decency to charge only one way.

The bridge's proximity to the park make it a fantastic backdrop to weekend family enjoyment.

Bronx end of the Whitestone Bridge

I'm so, so very happy spring has come. Finally there's some life in these pictures.

Bear Mountain Bridge, Cortlandt Manor-Bear Mountain, NY

It's probably the best bridge picture I've ever taken. It was a colossal accident. I'd brought my bike with me to Bear Mountain, had parked in the commodious parking lot of the Bear Mountain Inn and was riding over the bridge, beneath the bridge, over to Fort Collins, up behind the skating rink -- you can see the pictures I took in the collage at the bottom of this post.

The Appalachian Trail crosses the bridge and continues on through a small zoo and museum on the western side. It's a pretty cool museum. They have a lot of local animals, including a zoo-raised bald eagle. Anyway, I was riding along, avoiding tourists as best I could, stopped to take a picture of a statue of Walt Whitman and a rock on which was carved part of his Song of the Open Road, from his famous Leaves of Grass.

Which is a really weird book.

Anyway, the path started tending steeply down to a boat landing. I started down it, but wasn't eager to coast all the way down and then have to granny gear it back up, so I clambered over the rocks so I could see what was at the bottom.

Nearly jumped when I saw this old bronze elk head mounted there. And then was all ooo and aaa over this absolutely amazing view of the Bear Mountain Bridge crossing the Hudson.

It was my last shot of the trip. I wanted to take the Appalachian Trail up to the top of Bear Mountain, but I was concerned to be caught in the dark up on the mountain.

Apart from the bridge itself and the zoo/museum, there's a lake with boat rentals nearby, the Bear Mountain Inn, a carousel, a visitor's center on the site of Fort Montgomery, hiking, biking, yet more bridges, swimming in the summer and skating in the winter.

The Hudson has some of the most beautiful bridges. The Tappan Zee (I know, falling apart but I still consider it beautiful), the George Washington, the Sleepy Hollow bridge, the Newburgh-Beacon bridge in certain lights -- but nothing shouts BRIDGE! like an old suspension bridge.