The Macombs Dam Bridge crosses the Harlem River where west 155th Street in Manhattan meets East 161st in the Bronx, right in front of Yankee Stadium.
It opened in 1895 at a cost of about $2 million just 10 years after our ClockTower was built. That would be about $51 million in todays dollars.
Since that time the NYC DOT has invested almost $200 million more in rehabilitation and seismic retrofitting, an engineering term that means “earthquake prepared”.
The Macombs Dam gained Landmark Status in 1998.
The Macombs Dam is a swing bridge like the old Willis Avenue and the Third Avenue. You can see the turntable here:
The operating controls swing it open so tall river traffic can pass through to the East River and the sound, or eventually, New York Harbor.
From the bridge walkway you can see the HW Wilson Publishing Lighthouse.
You can also see the HighBridge Park Water Tower, in Manhattan, built in 1872.
Here's the back story. Way back in 1810 Robert Alexander Macomb had an idea to build a dam in this location, not a bridge. Half the tolls were to go to the poor but in 1839 a group of citizens rammed his dam with a boat breaching the dam, draining the water and even beating the court case. The court ruled "it was a public nuisance to obstruct the navigation."
So a bridge was proposed instead. The first swing bridge was lame, built in 1861 as the “Central Bridge” but with wooden components that quickly rotted out. Work began in 1892 on a “Central” steel replacement.
The Central was renamed Macombs Dam in 1902.
A control house is built right up in the ironwork.
And 19th century security measures are still in place.
The average daily traffic in both directions in 2008 was 38,897; well down from its peak of 55,609 in 1957.
We should all work this well and look this good at 116!
