General Pierce Bridge

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General Pierce Bridge
IMG 3965 Montague City Road Bridge.jpg
General Pierce Bridge, taken from the Canalside Railtrail Bridge
Coordinates42°34′49″N 72°34′47″W / 42.58028°N 72.57972°W / 42.58028; -72.57972Coordinates: 42°34′49″N 72°34′47″W / 42.58028°N 72.57972°W / 42.58028; -72.57972
Carriesvehicular and pedestrian traffic
CrossesConnecticut River
LocaleGreenfield and Montague, Massachusetts
Maintained byMassHighway
ID numberG-12-020
Characteristics
Designsteel truss bridge
Total length229.5 m (753.0 ft)
Width7.9 m (25.9 ft)
History
Construction end1947
Statistics
Daily traffic19,400
Location

The General Pierce Bridge is a steel truss road bridge over the Connecticut River between Greenfield, Massachusetts and Montague, Massachusetts carrying Montague City Road.

General Pierce Bridge, between spans facing northeast.

As of summer 2021, the bridge is closed to vehicle traffic while undergoing major repairs. It remains open for foot traffic. It is scheduled to fully reopen in summer 2024.[1][2][3]

Previous structures[]

Montague City Bridge with the Trolley Bridge just visible behind it.
Earlier image of the covered bridge and the trolley bridge, with the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Bridge (now known as the Canalside Railtrail Bridge) in the background

The current bridge was preceded at that location by two bridges destroyed in the Flood of 1936. Upstream was the wooden double-decked covered bridge known as the Montague City Bridge, and carried rail traffic on top, with other traffic below. It was built in 1866, and was over 860 feet (260 m) long, with 5 spans. Next was the trolley bridge, which was a metal through-truss.[4]

When the Flood of 1936 came, the trolley bridge was knocked off its piers and sunk into the river, where it remains. The covered rail bridge floated down the river, where it knocked two spans off the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Bridge (now known as the Canalside Rail Trail Bridge), then proceeded down the river to destroy the Sunderland Bridge.[4]

See also[]

External links and references[]

  1. ^ "General Pierce Bridge to be Restored by 2024".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. ^ Franklin Region Transportation Plan, January 2007, chapter 5 Archived 2007-10-21 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Article in the Greenfield Recorder
  4. ^ a b Klekowski, Ed; Wilda, Elizabeth; Klekowski, Libby (2003). The Great Flood of 1936: The Connecticut River Story (DVD). Springfield, Massachusetts: WGBY. Event occurs at 10:35. OCLC 58055715. Archived from the original on 2011-09-30. Retrieved 16 November 2011.


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