Waterways and Bridges

Bridging the Mohawk River

Did you know that? ...

1. 185 billion gallons of water flow through the Mohawk River's final twenty miles each year.
2. The Burr Bridge (a wooden cabled suspension bridge between Schenectady and Scotia) ended up having a wavy surface not unlike a modern roller coaster? (see photo)
3. The Erie Canal was dug on the Saratoga County side of the Mohawk from Rexford to Crescent to appease orchard farmers, the brick factories, and the timber industry.
4. Freeman's Bridge (built in 1855) was washed out or replaced due to rot 2 to 3 times? In 1879, the town of Glenville bought Freeman's Bridge to collect the tolls for the town.
5. The Schenectady-Saratoga Trolley bridge was the "longest trolley bridge in the world. The flood of 1914 destroyed almost all the bridges across the mohawk in the area.
6. The Trolley Bridge at Alplaus met its demise on December 7, 1941, just two hours before the attack on Pearl Harbor. The steel of the bridge was removed in 1942 for war materials ... "the steel went to war"

Vintage Postcard: Schenectady, NY Bridge

Did You Know?

• The highest recorded flood level in Schenectady’s recorded history occurred during the March 1914 breakup event. A heavy thaw followed a 32” blizzard earlier in the week. The sudden surge of meltwater resulted in an ice jam at the Scotia Bridge connecting the Stockade of Schenectady with Scotia, NY. The water rose in the Stockade to 231.1’, almost 10 feet over the banks and destroyed Freemans Bridge, It then then took out the larger Rexford Bridge downstream, effectively cutting parts of Schenectady off from its rural district to the north for three years.