Westfield Railroad Bridge
NBI Information
Location
State: Massachusetts
County: Hampden County
Feature Carried: Pedestrian Path
Feature Crossed: Westfield River
Latitude, Longitude: 42.1295,-72.7473
Structure Open, Posted, or Closed to Traffic: Open to Pedestrians
History
Year Built: 1910
Year Reconstructed: 2017
Picture Date: June 8, 2024
Geometry
Lanes on Structure: 1
Lanes under Structure: 0
Number of Main Spans: 2
Main Structure Type: Thru Truss
Main Structure Material: Steel
Condition
Bridge is not on the National Bridge Inventory
Bridge Information
The Westfield Railroad Bridge was built in 1910 as part of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad. It is an unusual example of a double-intersection Warren through truss used for a railroad bridge. It is also unusual even among double intersection Warren trusses, because the panels are subdivided.
The bridge was renovated in 1919 when the railroad was raised. The railroad was abandoned as a through route in 1976, but the bridge continued to be used by the Pioneer Valley Railroad to service industry south of the river until the late 1990’s.
The bridge was rehabilitated in 2017 as part of the Columbia Greenway Rail Trail extension. This rehabilitation included cleaning and paining the bridge, minor structural repairs, adding a concrete deck and new railings, and installing new lighting. It is now open to pedestrians and bicycles.
References
Historic Bridges: https://historicbridges.org/bridges/browser/?bridgebrowser=massachusetts/westfield/
Mass Live: https://www.masslive.com/business-news/2017/07/westfield_work_begins_on_37m_columbia_gr.html
