Aldrich Change Bridge
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T SOCIETY W©IB IN":O"USTR,IA.L AR.CH:EOLOGY Volume 27 Summer 1998 Number 2 ALDRICH CHANGE BRIDGE Documentation & Restoration he Aldrich Change Bridge in Macedon, NY, which col and mules had to change to the north side of the canal in order lapsed into Ganargua Creek in January 1996 and was res to pass through the village. The bridge, also known as Crossover cued by local residents a year later, will be the subject of Bridge No. 35, served until 1915, when the State abandoned the a Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) record old canal in favor of the expanded Barge Canal. A local farmer Tation project this summer prior to restoration. Eric Delany, Chief bought the bridge and moved it to his property to provide a cross of HAER, believes the bridge is the oldest documented cast- and ing of Ganargua Creek. wrought-iron truss bridge in New York and one of the earliest sur As a result of community interest and volunteer support, the viving examples in the nation. Delany, well known for his advo bridge was removed from the icy waters of the creek in January cacy for historic bridges, has called the project "new, exciting, and 1997 by Sessler Excavating & Wrecking Co. of Waterloo, NY, grand." Local resident Jay Harding, coordinator of the Aldrich and is being stored at the Macedon Highway Dept. The owners Change Bridge Committee, heads the restoration project. have agreed to donate the bridge to the communities of Palmyra The bridge was manufactured in 1858 in Waterford, NY, by and Macedon, and plans have been prepared to restore the bridge John Hutchinson. Based on the design of Squire Whipple, the and return it to its 1880 site over the canal in what is now a com dean of American iron-truss bridge engineers, it originally was munity park. Once returned, the bridge will become part of the located over the old Erie Canal just north of the weighlock build NY State Heritage Trail system, following more than 360 miles of ing in Rochester. In 1880, it was relocated over the canal on the the old canal. The Palmyra-Macedon Towpath Trail will offer Macedon-Palmyra town line after the existing wooden change views of the bridge as it looked in 1880. bridge collapsed into the canal. The bridge then served as a cross The estimated cost of restoration and site work is $232,000. ing for mules and horses pulling boats to make the shift from the This includes $202,000 for rehabilitation work and site improve south towpath to the north as they approached Palmyra. A change ments; $22,000 in the value of labor, materials, and related ser bridge was not needed on the original Erie Canal at this location vices to salvage the bridge from the creek; and $8,000 to docu but, when the State widened the canal from 40 ft. to 70 ft., the ment the bridge to HAER standards. Professor Bradley Wales and canal waters came right up to the buildings in Palmyra and architectural students from the State University at Buffalo will eliminated the original south towpath. Thus, the horses (continued on page 3) r f"--. I . · -. ried'.iif!t: " z• 1 ~ Bridge, ca. 1900, ·' l on the enlarged f..rie .. .:, Canal at the " r Palmyra-Macedon tbwn line . 1 • Published by the Society for Industrial Archeology Department of Social Sciences, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, Michigan 49931-1295 Cleveland, City ofBridges, Basks in a New Light here are the greatest lot of bridges here you ever saw," a Cleveland Public Power, a municipally owned electric utility, pro visitor to Cleveland scrawled on a postcard in 1905. vided overall project management, while General Electric donat ''T The city's bridges still impress. (Those who attended ed most of the 1,500 bulbs. More than two dozen different types, the 1986 SIA annual conference will recall seeing no fewer than the majority mercury- and sodium-vapor, are employed, accord 22 of them during a boat cruise up the Cuyahoga River.) But now, ing to Cleveland Public Power engineer Ray O'Neill. Sunday thanks to a project designed to commemorate Cleveland's two through Thursday, the bridges are lighted from dusk to midnight; hundredth birthday, they have taken on a new, magical glow. The on weekends, the lights stay on until 2:00 A.M. "City of Bridges" project has resulted in the permanent lighting of North to south, the eight bridges and their lighting designs are eight bridges in the city's Flats district, the broad floodplain of the as follows: Cuyahoga that separates the high plateaus of the city's east and • Conrail No. 1 Bridge (1947) - This busy vertical-lift bridge west sides. near the mouth of the Cuyahoga River is bathed in a soft Conceived as a "legacy gift" to the people of Cleveland in golden light. honor of the city's bicentennial, celebrated in 1996, the award winning lighting project was a complex undertaking that required • Main Avenue High-Level Bridge (1939) - The blue can the cooperation of Conrail, the City of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, tilever-truss spans of this 8,000-foot-long bridge, which car and private businesses. The Cleveland Bicentennial Commission ries vehicular traffic over industries, railroads, streets, and administered the project, which was designed by Ross De Alessi river, are illuminated by a series of simple up-lighted cascades. of Ross De Alessi Lighting Design of Seattle, Washington. • Willow Avenue Bridge (1964) -A multihued rainbow effect is projected onto the motor houses of this vertical-lift bridge, while the remainder of the span is bathed in gray light. • B&O Railroad Bridge #464 (1907) - The lighting design for this bascule bridge, now inoperative and permanently in its raised position, is intended to re-create the effect of a forge. During a 15-minute event that takes place every half-hour, the bridge is bathed in light that changes from white to amber to red, the transformation moving gradually from base to tip of the 230-foot-long span. • B&O Railroad Bridge #463 (1956) - The lighting design for this bascule bridge, also inoperative and permanently in its raised position, honors the steam locomotive by suggesting the passage of a "ghost" train. The bridge is foot-lighted with magenta and blue. On the half-hour, what appears to be an approaching train emerges from the earth, white light grow ing from inside the amber-lighted counterweight until the inside The SIA Newsletter is published quarterly by the Society for Industrial Archeology. It is sent to SIA members, who also receive the Society's journal, IA, published annually. SlA promotes the identification, interpretation, preservation, and re-use of historic industrial and engi neering sites, structures, and equipment. Annual membership: indi vidual $35; couple $40; full-time student $20; institutional $40; con tributing $60; sustaining $125; corporate $250. Send check or money order payable in U.S. funds to the Society for Industrial Archeology to SIA-HQ, Dept. of Social Sciences, Michigan Technological University, 1400 Townsend Drive, Houghton, MI 49931-1295; (906) 487-1889; e-mail: SIA@mtu .edu. Mailing date for Vol. 27,2 (Summer 1998), August 1998. lf you have not received an issue, apply to SIA-HQ (address above) for a replace ment copy. The SIA Newsletter welcomes material and correspondence from members, especially in the form of copy already digested and written! B&O Railroad Bridge #463, in its permanently raised position, The usefulness and timeliness of the newsletter depends on you, the punctuates the night sky. The lighting design simulates the reader, as an important source of information and opinion. approach of a "ghost train" every 30 minutes. In the background TO CONTACT THE EDITOR: Patrick Harshbarger, Editor, SIA are the steel arch of the Detroit-Superior High-Level Bridge and Newsletter, Box 45, Toughkenamon, PA 19374-0045; (610) 268-3899; the Center Street swing-span bridge. e-mail: [email protected]. ,/ 2 SIA Newsletter, Vol.27, No 2, 1998 The Center Street Bridge reflects its new red glow in the The Willow Avenue Bridge features a multihued rainbow effect Cuyahoga River. on its motor houses. of the magenta and blue roadway glows white. When the • Eagle Avenue Bridge (1931) - Located directly across from ghost train reaches the end of the trestle, a searchlight punc Jacobs Field, the city's new professional baseball park, the first tuates the sky. (The special effect required FAA approval.) and oldest of the city's vertical-lift bridges glows blue-green. • Center Street Bridge (1901) - The city's last remaining swing The permanent lights were turned on for the first time in July bridge glows red. 1996, although illumination of the Detroit-Superior span was • Detroit-Superior High-Level Bridge (1917, HAER, NR) - delayed while the bridge was closed for a $49-million renovation. This massive double-deck span, 3,112 feet long, uses just Those lights were finally turned on early this year, completing the under 1,000 bulbs, or two-thirds of the project's total. The lighting project. In 1997, the colorful tribute to Cleveland's indus 591-foot steel arch span is bathed in royal blue, while the trial and engineering heritage received an Award of Excellence reinforced-concrete spandrel arches of the approach spans from the International Association of Lighting Designers. glow bright white. C. P. M. ALDRICH CHANGE BRIDGE Documentation & Restoration (continued fro m page 1) prepare the documentation this summer under the direc will be an important tourist attraction for Way ne County. tion of Eric Del a ny. Documentation will consist of mea Info rmati on kios ks and interpreti ve signs will be installed sured drawings, large-fo rmat photographs, and a history of at the site.