The island of
Manhattan, surrounded by
brackish rivers, originally had numerous small sources of freshwater, including
springs, streams, and lakes. All of these had been polluted or eliminated by the 18th century as modern New York City grew. As such, there were proposals to bring water from outside Manhattan via an aqueduct crossing the Harlem River; the first such plan was made in 1778, when Manhattan residents suggested that water be obtained from
Rye Pond in
Westchester. As the city was devastated by
cholera in 1832 and
the Great Fire in 1835, the inadequacy of the water system of wells and
cisterns became apparent, and numerous corrective measures were examined. Efforts to bring freshwater from the
Croton River watershed in New York's
Hudson Valley, north of the city, commenced in the early 1830s.
David Bates Douglass was appointed the chief engineer of what would become the
Old Croton Aqueduct in 1835; in this capacity, he was tasked with designing the High Bridge. Work on the Old Croton Aqueduct began in 1837, and it began supplying water in 1842. The aqueduct measured long, running from
Old Croton Dam in Westchester to the modern
boroughs of
the Bronx and Manhattan in New York City. It used a classic
gravity feed, running through an enclosed brick-and-masonry structure for most of its length. On the Manhattan side, the aqueduct continued south under Amsterdam Avenue, leading to the
Central Park and
Murray Hill reservoirs.
Development Planning The means of carrying the Croton Aqueduct across the Harlem River valley was highly debated, and there was particular debate over the height of the bridge. Early plans called for a high-level bridge, which, due to the aqueduct's gravity-fed design, would allow the water tubes to maintain a steady downward slope. In 1832, before the aqueduct's construction had been approved, the engineer DeWitt Clinton Jr. (son of former Governor
DeWitt Clinton) proposed a bridge across the Harlem River. Douglass, who
surveyed two alternate routes for the aqueduct, in 1833 similarly proposed a span measuring high. Despite the high-level plan's expense, Douglass felt the aqueduct's importance was worth the cost. The bridge would be long, making it the country's longest stone arch bridge. The aqueduct would have been higher than the low bridge at both ends, requiring a
siphon, or inverted U-shaped tube, to bring water down and back up. Martineau's plan was similar to Douglass's plan, except for the low bridge across the Harlem River, which was substantially less expensive than Douglass's proposed high bridge. When Jervis took over the aqueduct's development, he conducted a report in 1837, assessing both the low-level and high-level plans. Jervis ultimately rejected the high-level plan, citing the cost efficiency of the low-level proposal. about half the cost of the high-level bridge's approximate cost of $935,000. or of vertical clearance. initially approved the low-level bridge on October 12, 1838. Opponents of the low-level bridge claimed it would disrupt the aqueduct's steady slope, and they bought advertisements in newspapers, which suggested that contractors for any low-level bridge would not receive remuneration. Ultimately, the
New York State Legislature passed a law banning a low bridge. This law, passed in May 1839, mandated that the aqueduct cross the Harlem River on a bridge at least high, or through a tunnel underneath the river. Jervis subsequently prepared plans for a masonry bridge measuring exactly 100 feet high, with pipes forming a siphon at either end. The water commissioners accepted these plans in mid-1839.
Construction The High Bridge's construction contracts were among the last to be awarded during the development of the Croton Aqueduct. A contract for a low-lying bridge was awarded to Ellsworth, Mix & Co. in 1838, but this contract was rescinded after the low-bridge ban was enacted. The contract went to a firm led by
George Law, Samuel Roberts, and Arnold Mason. The consortium had submitted the second-lowest bid of $755,130, but the lowest bidder had dropped out before the contract was awarded. Construction began that year, but with little progress having occurred by the end of 1839, Jervis terminated Law's and Roberts's existing Croton Aqueduct contracts so they could focus on the bridge's construction.
Foundations for the support
piers were being built by early 1840, but work progressed slowly because of the project's complexity and the contractors' inexperience with large structures. The new commissioners asked Jervis to consider several options (including canceling the bridge and instead constructing a tunnel) to reduce the project's cost, but he rejected the suggestions after studying their feasibility. In advance of the aqueduct's opening in 1842, a temporary pipe measuring across was constructed across the Harlem River, just above the waterline. This pipe was laid atop the cofferdams, with an experimental
fountain shooting up from its midpoint. The West Point Foundry Association received the contract for the temporary pipe The water commissioners were replaced in 1843 following another election, and the final mid-river pier had progressed above the waterline by that August. With some of the other piers having been completed by then, the contractors began installing the piers' Maine granite cladding in December 1843. Work was delayed due to issues in granite delivery and a shortage of skilled stonecutters. The piers and
abutments were nearly finished by December 1845, but only a small number of arches had been started. Because the deck's permanent pipes and
parapets could not be built until the arches were completed, contractors built several arches simultaneously. but they were ultimately built with a smaller diameter of . and the pipe's temporary fountain was removed. Construction was completed in November 1848 at a cost of $963,427.80, at which point it was among the
longest bridges in the United States. The bridge was frequently used for day trips into the countryside, and people sometimes
jumped from the bridge for leisure. Despite proposals for a roadway atop the High Bridge, no vehicular crossings of the Harlem River were possible until the Washington Bridge opened to the north in 1889. As early as 1853, the Croton Aqueduct Board proposed that a third pipe measuring wide be built across the bridge. This pipe was not built; instead, an additional pipe was built at the Manhattan end of the bridge to supply reservoirs further south. Because of the steep hills at both ends, it was not feasible to construct vehicular ramps to the bridge. The aqueduct was operating near capacity by the late 1850s, prompting proposals for an additional pipe. the fate of their proposal was not documented. A second proposal by the engineer Andrew Craven, for a tube, was approved the next year. installation began later that year. Large cranes were used to lift the pieces of the pipe onto the deck. Afterward, a brick parapet was constructed atop the deck, Work on a
water tower and
a reservoir began on the Manhattan side in 1866. The reservoir was to store , accommodating residents of Manhattan who could not receive water from the Central Park or 42nd Street reservoirs; it was located above the level of the bridge, requiring the use of a tower. Lighting was installed along the walkway some time after 1872.
Further modifications The New York City Department of Public Works took over the bridge's operation from the Croton Aqueduct Department in 1870. at which point the aqueduct carried per day. The bridge's brick arches were modified that year to allow more water to flow through them. The first part of the new aqueduct opened in 1890 The Old Croton Aqueduct continued to operate.
Scientific American stated that the bridge was an attraction in itself, which the
New-York Tribune described as "beloved of poets and picnickers".
The Wall Street Journal wrote that, at the turn of the 20th century, the bridge was a popular meetup spot for dates, where people could "see and be seen". People sometimes jumped from the bridge, including both
suicide jumpers and stuntmen. Due to decreased demand, water temporarily stopped flowing across the bridge in 1910; over the next five decades, water service was intermittently resumed and paused again for similar reasons. The DSWGE proposed constructing a 12- or 20-inch-wide (30 or 51 cm) pipe in 1911, which would supplement the existing pipes, and it selected the 12-inch alternative the next year. The pipe was ultimately not installed due to debates over cost, as well as concerns that part of the bridge would be damaged by the work; the steps leading to the bridge's western terminus would also require demolition. Due to concerns that enemy combatants could sabotage the city's water supply system during
World War I, the section of the Old Croton Aqueduct over the bridge stopped operating on February 3 of that year. At the time, city officials anticipated that the New Croton and Catskill aqueducts would be sufficient to serve Manhattan.) and removing obstacles such as narrow or low bridges.
Early demolition proposals By 1911, the
United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) had raised concerns that the piers in the middle of the river created obstacles for watercraft. After businesses and property owners in the Bronx shared similar complaints, a report about the bridge was submitted to the city government in 1915. Plans to replace the bridge were paused for several years, and city engineers studied a proposal to remove some of the mid-river piers instead of the entire bridge. The cost of demolition was estimated at $300,000. While local business organizations supported the plan, objections came from both the public and from organizations such as the New York Society of Landscape Architects, the
American Institute of Architects (AIA), and the
American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). One ASCE member argued that it would cost about $800,000 to modify Croton Aqueduct gatehouses if the bridge were removed to remediate the resulting reduction in water flow. and approved that month. Shortly afterward, the
United States Department of War told the city government that the mid-river piers had to be removed because they posed a hindrance to navigation. Two engineers drew up plans to replace part of the bridge with an elliptical arch, and the city government proposed replacing four of the original arches with two wider arches. Several city agencies, groups, and architectural firms created designs for the bridge, five of which were published in January 1921. Despite this,
Grover Whalen, the commissioner of the city's Department of Plant and Structure (DPS), recommended the bridge's demolition. Preliminary surveys for the piers' removal were being conducted by then; these surveys found that the piers had
settled several inches. The DWSGE recommended full demolition, as the cost of repairing the piers would more than double the project's original $900,000 budget. The Board of Estimate recommended demolishing the High Bridge that March, prompting opponents to speak out against the plans. Subsequently, the board agreed to pause its earlier order and study the viability of preserving the bridge. The full Board of Estimate recommended demolishing the entire bridge in June; the masonry would have been reused for an overpass carrying
Riverside Drive above
Dyckman Street in
Inwood, Manhattan. Later that month, engineers and architects convinced the board to instead replace only four of the midriver arches, since this plan would cost $716,000, substantially less than a full demolition. In the nine months after the revised plan was approved, the DPS created plans for a steel arch measuring long with a clearance of , at an estimated cost of $1 million. The new design was approved by the
Municipal Art Commission in April 1924 and by the US Department of War the next month. The engineer Merritt H. Smith of
Yonkers, New York, was appointed to oversee the modifications. Plant and Structures Commissioner
William Wirt Mills began sending out specifications for the new arch to potential contractors in late 1925; the lowest bid, at $1.481 million, was rejected. The plans were modified to call for the removal of five arches, rather than four, at a cost of $1.1 million. The revised contract was approved by the Board of Estimate in June 1926 and by the Department of War in August. The Patrick J. Cox Construction Company received a $1.09 million contract to construct the central span in September 1926. The entire project was initially scheduled to take one year, The bridge was rededicated on October 27, 1928—almost exactly two years after construction started—with a ceremony attended by 2,500 people and a maritime parade. The replacement span cost about $1 million in total. The
New York Daily News wrote that "one of the serious drawbacks to shipping is no more", quoting a real estate expert who predicted that business on the Harlem River would grow as a result.
Mid- and late 20th century Reduced aqueduct operations in 2008 After the new center span was built, the DSWGE gradually transferred some land at each end of the bridge to NYC Parks, particularly after
Robert Moses became parks commissioner in 1929. In the 1930s, the High Bridge remained part of the Old Croton Aqueduct system, though the portion running over the bridge had been temporarily closed off during the reconstruction project. Even after the bridge reopened, the aqueduct remained unused south of
Ossining, New York, because the embankments were in very poor shape. The land surrounding the reservoir and tower in Manhattan was transferred to NYC Parks in 1934, and another parcel adjoining University Avenue at the Bronx end was transferred to that agency in 1937. Although a source from 1939 cited the bridge's water tubes as still being in operation, The steps at the Bronx end were modified in 1940, and new benches and railings were installed early in that decade. The water tower on the Manhattan side stopped operating on December 15, 1949, when an electric pump replaced it. Control of the water tower subsequently passed to NYC Parks in 1951, After the DSWGE commissioner said the bridge suffered from "maintenance and vandalism" issues, NYC Parks agreed to take responsibility for the bridge itself in 1955. Local youth also dived off the piers of the High Bridge.
Closure and disuse Although water flow through the High Bridge to Manhattan had intermittently stopped and restarted from 1955 onward, the bridge did not permanently stop carrying water until 1958. in 1966, New York Governor
Nelson Rockefeller proposed incorporating the High Bridge into a scenic trail that spanned the aqueduct's route in Westchester and the Bronx. By then, the aqueduct's former route had been divided into several disconnected sections. During the 1970s, there were proposals to extend Westchester's Croton Aqueduct trail to the High Bridge, running via the Bronx's
Aqueduct Walk. The bridge may have been shuttered to pedestrians as early as 1960. The bridge was definitively closed in the early 1970s. but there is no documentation as to exactly when the bridge was closed, and even NYC Parks does not have records pertaining to the bridge's closure date. and the pedestrian path remained closed through the rest of the century. NYC Parks retained responsibility for the bridge's maintenance but refused to reopen it, citing safety concerns and funding shortages. and it was frequently vandalized and used by trespassers; Efforts to reopen the bridge began in the 1980s. By the late 1990s, the paths leading to the bridge were so heavily overgrown, one observer said only the paths' lampposts were visible above the weeds. The Manhattan end was used as a dumping ground until the early 2000s, when the adjacent section of Highbridge Park was cleaned. Over time, the public came to neglect the bridge as well;
The New York Times wrote in 2012 that "even lifelong residents have no clue that the eyesore in their windows is actually the bridge in Highbridge". The High Bridge Coalition was established in 2001 to coordinate the bridge's preservation. The
New York Daily News printed an editorial advocating for the bridge's renovation, The study determined that it would cost $30 million to repair issues such as falling masonry, low guardrails, and crumbling stairs. The bridge's feasibility study was published in late 2006. The study estimated that it would cost $20–30 million to bring the bridge to a state of good repair and that a full renovation would total $60 million. but the project was not fully funded. As part of his 2007
PlaNYC master plan for New York City, Mayor
Michael Bloomberg announced that $64–65 million would be allocated for the project. Ultimately, the renovation received $12 million from the federal government and $50 million from the city. and it began soliciting ideas for the renovation from the public in 2010. Objections notwithstanding, the
New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission approved the renovation plans in April 2011. The renovation plans coincided with increased development at the Bronx end.
Renovation and reopening A ceremonial groundbreaking for the project took place on January 13, 2013, at which point the project was to cost $61 million and take a year. At the time, Bloomberg was considering constructing a greenway on Manhattan's periphery, connecting with the High Bridge. A NYC Parks official described the bridge as "the centerpiece of the Harlem River corridor". By 2014, the cost of renovation had increased to $62 million. The opening was first postponed to late 2014 due to inclement weather, that May, NYC Parks announced that the bridge would reopen shortly. The bridge reopened on June 9, 2015, with a ceremony attended by parks commissioner
Mitchell J. Silver, Manhattan borough president
Gale A. Brewer, and Bronx borough president
Rubén Díaz Jr.. and a festival to commemorate the reopening was hosted that July. Nearly a decade after the High Bridge's reopening, a writer for the
Bronx Times said that the bridge sometimes "functioned as a promenade on some weekends" and that it had helped connect the neighboring communities in Manhattan and the Bronx. == Related structures ==