Bulkeley Bridge facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Bulkeley Bridge |
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| Coordinates | 41°46′10″N 72°39′55″W / 41.76944°N 72.66528°W |
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Morgan G. Bulkeley Bridge
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 Location in Connecticut
Location in the United States
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| Location |  I-84 / US 6 / US 44, Hartford and East Hartford |
| Built | 1908 |
| Architect | Graves, Edwin D., Wheelwright, Edmund M. |
| Architectural style | CLASSICAL REVIVAL |
| NRHP reference No. | 93001347 |
| Added to NRHP | 1993-12-10 |
| Carries | I-84 / US 6 / US 44, pedestrians, and bicycles |
| Crosses | Connecticut River |
| Locale | Hartford, Connecticut |
| Official name | Morgan G. Bulkeley Bridge |
| Maintained by | ConnDOT |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | stone arch bridge |
| Total length | 1,075 feet (328 m) |
| Width | 110 feet (34 m) |
| Longest span | 119 feet (36 m) |
| Clearance below | 39 feet (12 m) |
| History | |
| Construction begin | 1903 |
| Construction end | 1908 |
| Opened | 1908 |
The Bulkeley Bridge is a really old and important bridge in Hartford, Connecticut. It's also known as the Hartford Bridge. This amazing stone arch bridge crosses the Connecticut River.
It connects the cities of Hartford and East Hartford. The bridge carries major roads like Interstate 84, U.S. Route 6, and U.S. Route 44. It also has paths for people walking and biking.
The Bulkeley Bridge was finished in 1908. This makes it the oldest highway bridge in the Hartford area. It's also one of the oldest bridges still used in the Interstate Highway System. It's a huge stone arch bridge, one of the last big ones built in New England.
Because of its history and how it was built, the Bulkeley Bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1993. This means it's a special landmark!
Contents
How the Bulkeley Bridge Was Built
Have you ever wondered how such a big bridge came to be? Let's find out!
The First Bridge: A Covered Wooden Span
Before the Bulkeley Bridge, there was another important bridge. It was called the Hartford Toll Bridge. This was a two-lane covered bridge made of wood. It opened way back in 1818.
This wooden bridge was about 974 feet (297 m) long. It was used by horses and carriages. Later, in 1890, trolley lines were added. These trolleys connected Hartford to East Hartford and Glastonbury.
The Fire of 1895
On May 17, 1895, something dramatic happened. The Hartford Toll Bridge caught fire! The flames started on the East Hartford side. In just ten minutes, the whole dry wooden bridge was gone.
People had been wanting a new bridge for a while. The local newspaper, the Hartford Courant, reported that 20,000 people watched it burn. It was quite a sight!
Building a "Forever" Bridge
After the fire, people wanted a strong, beautiful new bridge. Important groups in Hartford supported this idea. They wanted a bridge that would be "an ornament to the city which should endure forever."
Work on this new "Hartford Bridge" began in 1903. It was designed by Edward Dwight Graves. They chose a neo-classical stone arch bridge style. This was different from the popular truss bridge and suspension bridge designs of that time.
Creating a Grand Entrance
To make the bridge look even better, the city made big changes. They tore down old buildings near the river. Then, they built wide, beautiful roads leading up to the bridge. These roads had nice landscaping.
The new bridge officially opened on October 6, 1908. It cost about $3 million to build. This was a lot of money back then! It was even more expensive than the Connecticut State Capitol building.
The bridge was built with over 100,000 cubic yards (76,000 m3) of grey and pink granite. Each huge stone block weighed ten tons. They were cut very precisely, within 3/8ths of an inch! When it was finished, the bridge connected Morgan Street in Hartford to Hartford Avenue (now Connecticut Boulevard) in East Hartford.
Who Was Morgan Bulkeley?
After he passed away in 1922, the bridge was renamed for Senator Morgan Bulkeley. He was a very important person in Hartford. He had been mayor of Hartford four times.
Morgan Bulkeley was key in planning the new bridge. He also served as Governor of Connecticut and a United States Senator. He was even the first president of the National League in baseball and is in the National Baseball Hall of Fame!
The Bridge's Early Importance
As cars became more common, the Bulkeley Bridge became super important. Until 1942, it was the only bridge for cars across the Connecticut River for a long stretch. It carried a lot of traffic, including US 5, US 6, and US 44.
After big floods in 1936 and 1938, walls were built along the river. These walls, called levees, helped protect Hartford from floods. However, they also partly hid the bridge from view.
The Bridge in the Modern Era
As more and more cars used the bridge, traffic became a big problem.
New Bridges and Expressways
To help with traffic, the state built new roads and bridges. The Charter Oak Bridge opened in 1942, just south of the Bulkeley Bridge. Then, the Founders Bridge opened in 1958. These new bridges helped ease the traffic on the Bulkeley.
But the relief didn't last long! In the late 1940s, work began on Interstate 84, a major highway across Connecticut. I-84 was planned to use the Bulkeley Bridge to cross into East Hartford.
Widening the Bridge
In 1964, the Bulkeley Bridge was made wider. It now has eight lanes! However, some of these lanes are for exits and entrances. This means only two lanes in each direction are for cars driving straight through on I-84.
For many years, the bridge was hard to see because of the flood walls and highways. But in the 1980s and 1990s, efforts were made to improve the riverfront. These "Riverfront Recapture" projects helped make the bridge more visible again.
