Henry Hudson Bridge

The Henry Hudson Bridge is a steel arch toll bridge in New York City across the Spuyten Duyvil Creek, a tidal strait. It connects the Spuyten Duyvil section of The Bronx with the northern end of Manhattan to the south. On the Manhattan side, it touches Inwood Hill Park. The bridge has two roadway levels carrying an aggregate of seven traffic lanes, the lower level having been opened to traffic in 1936 and the upper level in 1938. It was designed by David B. Steinman (in realization of his PhD thesis) and built by the American Bridge Company at an original cost of $4,949,000 for the original single deck structure. A second deck had been designed in and was added in 1938 at an additional cost of approximately $2,000,000.

Henry Hudson Bridge

Official name                  Henry Hudson Bridge

Carries                            7 lanes (3 upper, 4 lower) of NY 9A, (Henry Hudson Parkway)

Crosses                           Spuyten Duyvil Creek

Locale                             Spuyten Duyvil section of The Bronx,

                                       Northern end of Manhattan (Inwood Hill Park)

Design                             Steel Arch Bridge

Longest span                  841 ft (256 m)

Total length                    2208 ft (673 m)

Width                             3 lane upper deck, 4 lane lower deck

Vertical clearance          12 feet

Clearance below             143 ft (44 m)

Opening date                  December 12, 1936

When it opened, the Henry Hudson Bridge was the longest plate girder arch and fixed arch bridge in the world. It spans Spuyten Duyvil Creek just east of where that strait meets the Hudson River. The bridge is part of the Henry Hudson Parkway placarded as New York State Route 9A. To its west, at five feet above water level, is the Spuyten Duyvil Bridge, which is used by Amtrak trains heading to Albany, New York and other points north. The Spuyten Duyvil Train Station is located under the Henry Hudson Bridge on the Bronx side.

As of March 16, 2008, the crossing charge for a two-axle passenger vehicle is $2.75 charged in each direction, with a $.85 discount for E-ZPass users. About 75,000 vehicles per day use the bridge. Current traffic alignment is northbound on the three-lane upper deck and southbound on the four-lane lower deck. The bridge is owned by New York City and operated by the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, an affiliate agency of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. A rehabilitation project commenced in 2000 and is being carried out by Steinman, Boynton, Gronquist and Birdsall a successor firm of Robinson & Steinman, the firm that originally designed and engineered the bridge.