The Mount Hope Bridge is a two-lane suspension bridge

Suspension bridge

A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck is hung below suspension cables on vertical suspenders. Outside Tibet and Bhutan, where the first examples of this type of bridge were built in the 15th century, this type of bridge dates from the early 19th century...

 spanning the Mount Hope Bay

Mount Hope Bay

Mount Hope Bay is a tidal estuary located at the mouth of the Taunton River on the Massachusetts and Rhode Island border. It is an arm of Narragansett Bay. The bay is named after Mount Hope, a small hill located on its western shore in what is now Bristol, Rhode Island. It flows into the East...

 in eastern Rhode Island

Rhode Island

The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...

, at one of the narrowest gaps in Narragansett Bay

Narragansett Bay

Narragansett Bay is a bay and estuary on the north side of Rhode Island Sound. Covering 147 mi2 , the Bay forms New England's largest estuary, which functions as an expansive natural harbor, and includes a small archipelago...

. The bridge connects the Rhode Island towns of Portsmouth

Portsmouth, Rhode Island

Portsmouth is a town in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 17,389 at the 2010 U.S. Census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it is water. Most of its land area lies on Aquidneck...

 and Bristol

Bristol, Rhode Island

Bristol is a town in and the historic county seat of Bristol County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 22,954 at the 2010 census. Bristol, a deepwater seaport, is named after Bristol, England....

, and is part of Route 114

Route 114 (Rhode Island)

Route 114 is a numbered State Highway running in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. It connects the city of Newport to the city of Woonsocket. Route 114 was a major north–south artery for its entire length until the arrival of the Interstate Highway System...

. Its towers are 285 feet (87 m) tall, the length of the main span is 1,200 feet (366 m) and it offers 135 feet (41 m) of clearance over high water. The total length of the bridge is 6,130 feet (1,868 m).

History

Before the bridge was built, a ferry operated between Bristol and Portsmouth. The 1855 Bristol Ferry Light

Bristol Ferry Light

Bristol Ferry Light in Bristol, Rhode Island, USA, is a lighthouse station on Narragansett Bay at the base of the Mount Hope Bridge.The brick lighthouse was built in 1855 and was discontinued in 1927 with the construction of the Mount Hope Bridge. Prior to the construction of the bridge, a ferry...

 still remains at the base of the bridge. The Mount Hope Bridge was originally proposed in 1920. After a few years of resistance from the Rhode Island General Assembly

Rhode Island General Assembly

The State of Rhode Island General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. A bicameral body, it is composed of the lower Rhode Island House of Representatives with 75 representatives, and the upper Rhode Island Senate with 38 senators...

, the New Hope Bridge Company was incorporated in 1927. Using a design by Robinson & Steinman

David B. Steinman

David Bernard Steinman was an American structural engineer. He was the designer of the Mackinac Bridge and many other notable bridges, and a published author. He grew up in New York City's lower Manhattan, and lived with the ambition of making his mark on the Brooklyn Bridge that he lived under...

, construction began on December 1, 1927.

Four months before it was to open, serious structural problems were discovered, forcing the contractor to disassemble and reassemble portions of the bridge.

On October 24, 1929, about five months behind schedule, the $5,000,000 bridge was opened to traffic. It was owned by the Mount Hope Bridge Company as a private toll bridge

Toll bridge

A toll bridge is a bridge over which traffic may pass upon payment of a toll, or fee.- History :The practice of collecting tolls on bridges probably harks back to the days of ferry crossings where people paid a fee to be ferried across stretches of water. As boats became impractical to carry large...

, with the initial toll costing 60 cents one way, and $

United States dollar

The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....

1 for a round-trip. By 1931, the Bridge company went bankrupt, and Rudolf F. Haffenreffer

Rudolf F. Haffenreffer

Rudolf F. Haffenreffer III was a Rhode Island industrialist and philanthropist. Among his numerous family enterprises he was best known for his role as president and chairman of the Narragansett Brewing Company. He also received the Mount Hope Bridge in receivership in 1931...

, a prominent local brewer, acquired the bridge in receivership.

It remained the longest suspension bridge in New England for 40 years, until the Claiborne Pell Bridge

Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge

The Claiborne Pell Bridge, commonly known as the Newport Bridge, is a suspension bridge operated by the Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority that spans the East Passage of the Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island , connecting the City of Newport on Aquidneck Island and the Town of Jamestown on...

 opened a few miles to the south in Newport, Rhode Island

Newport, Rhode Island

Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...

.

In 1971, the Mount Hope Bridge was considered for inclusion as part of the never-built Interstate 895. This plan would have required the construction of a parallel span, and the entire I-895 plan was eventually dropped due to community opposition throughout the affected areas of Rhode Island.

Since 1976, the Mount Hope Bridge has been listed with the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

 (Structure #76000038).

It underwent more than $15 million in renovations between 1998 and 2004.

Bicycles are permitted on this bridge, but bicyclists are advised to use extreme caution. The bridge also has narrow sidewalks on both sides, but pedestrians are strictly prohibited from using the bridge.

Bridge tokens

In 1954, with the company in receivership, the Mount Hope Bridge was purchased by the State of Rhode Island. The bridge's toll was eventually reduced from 60 cents to 30 cents for a one-way trip. It was finally discontinued in 1998, after calculations indicated that the toll was not high enough to cover the cost of collecting it.

External links

• Photograph of Mount Hope Bridge by Kathleen Murtagh
• Mount Hope Bridge page on BostonRoads.com