General Pierce Bridge
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox Bridge
| name = General Pierce Bridge
| image = IMG 3965 Montague City Road Bridge.jpg
| image_upright = 1.3
| caption = General Pierce Bridge, taken from the Canalside Railtrail Bridge
| official_name =
| carries = vehicular and pedestrian traffic
| crosses = Connecticut River
| locale = Greenfield and Montague, Massachusetts
| maint = MassHighway
| id = G-12-020
| design = steel truss bridge
| mainspan =
| length = {{Convert|229.5|m|1|abbr=on}}
| width = {{Convert|7.9|m|1|abbr=on}}
| height =
| load =
| clearance =
| below =
| traffic = 19,400
| begin =
| complete = 1947
| open =
| closed =
| toll =
| coordinates = {{coord|42|34|49|N|72|34|47|W|region:US-MA|display=inline,title}}
}}
The General Pierce Bridge is a steel truss road bridge over the Connecticut River between Greenfield, Massachusetts and Montague, Massachusetts carrying Montague City Road.
Image:IMG 3949-Montague-City-Road-bridge-between-spans.jpg
In summer 2021, the bridge was closed to vehicle traffic while undergoing major repairs but remained open for foot traffic. Originally expected to fully reopen in summer 2024,{{Cite news|title=General Pierce Bridge to be Restored by 2024|url=https://www.recorder.com/General-PIerce-Bridge-to-be-restored-by-2024-temporary-fix-32476206|last=Marcus|first=Max|work=The Greenfield Recorder|date=February 5, 2020|access-date=August 13, 2021|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210813150102/https://www.recorder.com/General-PIerce-Bridge-to-be-restored-by-2024-temporary-fix-32476206|archive-date=August 13, 2021}} repairs had been completed ahead of schedule and the bridge completely reopened by the end of February 2023.{{cite news |last=Mendoza |first=Julian |date=February 27, 2023 |title=General Pierce Bridge fully reopens after 2 years of construction |url=https://www.recorder.com/General-Pierce-Bridge-fully-reopens-after-2-years-of-construction-50082378 |work=The Greenfield Recorder |access-date=April 13, 2023|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230413183632/https://www.recorder.com/General-Pierce-Bridge-fully-reopens-after-2-years-of-construction-50082378|archive-date=April 13, 2023}}
Previous structures
File:Montague-City-Covered-Bridge.jpg
File:Montague-old-toll-bridge.jpg
The current bridge was preceded at that location by two bridges destroyed in the Flood of 1936. Upstream was the wooden double-decked covered bridge known as the Montague City Bridge, and carried rail traffic on top, with other traffic below. It was built in 1866, and was over {{convert|860|ft}} long, with 5 spans. Next was the trolley bridge, which was a metal through-truss.{{cite video
|first=Ed
|last=Klekowski
|first2=Elizabeth
|last2=Wilda
|first3=Libby
|last3=Klekowski
|year=2003
|title=The Great Flood of 1936: The Connecticut River Story
|url=http://www.wgby.org/localprograms/flood/
|medium=DVD
|publisher=WGBY
|location=Springfield, Massachusetts
|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930222247/http://wgby.org/localprograms/flood/
|archivedate=2011-09-30
|accessdate=16 November 2011
|time=10:35
|oclc=58055715
|url-status=dead
}}
When the Flood of 1936 came, the trolley bridge was knocked off its piers and sunk into the river, where it remains. The covered rail bridge floated down the river, where it knocked two spans off the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Bridge (now known as the Canalside Rail Trail Bridge), then proceeded down the river to destroy the Sunderland Bridge.
See also
External links and references
{{reflist}}5.
https://www.constructionequipmentguide.com/northern-construction-service-to-preserve-renovate-restore-general-pierce-bridge/53398 By Joe R. Parzych AN FREELANCE PHOTOJOURNALIST of Joe R. Parzych Photography etc./ https://www.linkedin.com/in/joseph-parzych-04362515b
Category:Bridges over the Connecticut River
Category:Montague, Massachusetts
Category:Bridges completed in 1947
Category:Bridges in Franklin County, Massachusetts