Photos: An Exclusive Exploration Inside & Atop The High Bridge, NYC's Oldest Bridge
42 photos
Steel span of the High Bridge as seen from the office trailers on the Bronx side<br/>
Stone arches of the High Bridge as seen from outside the office trailers on the Bronx side<br/>
Looking out at the High Bridge<br/>
Bronx barricade<br/>
Bronx barricade<br/>
The High Bridge with the High Bridge Water Tower on the Manhattan side<br/>
Old lamppost<br/>
Original railings to be refurbished and re-installed<br/>
Old railings<br/>
Old railing support<br/>
View of the Alexander Hamilton Bridge, Washington Bridge, and Yeshiva University<br/>
View towards Manhattan<br/>
Looking north you can see the Metro-North Railroad tracks which pass under the bridges<br/>
Looking back towards the Bronx from about midspan<br/>
The manhole through which we were to enter the High Bridge. This is at about midspan. We climbed down and then walked back toward the Bronx side before returning to midspan to exit through the same manhole. We were not able to continue inside the bridge past midspan because across the steel span, the water pipe is exposed and only accessible by catwalk<br/>
Heading down into the bridge<br/>
And down...<br/>
And down...<br/>
Inside the High Bridge. The rusted 90-inch water pipe is on the right<br/>
Inside the High Bridge<br/>
Inside the High Bridge<br/>
One of the steel supports for the 90-inch water pipe<br/>
Rusted bottom of the water pipe<br/>
Detail of the pipe's rust<br/>
Maintenance port in the floor of the bridge. "There are these openings in the wall, and they switch from side to side,” said Ellen Macnow, High Bridge Project Coordinator for the NYC Parks Department<br/>
“They're maintenance, but the location is of note because right here, we're at the top of the one of the masonry arches and so, actually, if you were to look down here, you would be looking down into the arch, which is partly hollow and it becomes solid closer to the bottom,” Macnow said<br/>
The maintenance ports are usually covered by a big piece of wood that says “Hole"<br/>
Old bricks inside the bridge<br/>
More brick detail<br/>
Macnow holds up a brick core found inside the bridge<br/>
A plug left over from the original 36-inch water pipes<br/>
Back topside, you can see the surface of the steel portion of the bridge<br/>
View due northwest. Look at the beautiful arches of the ramp to/from the George Washington Bridge and West 179th Street<br/>
Manhattan barricade<br/>
High Bridge Water Tower as seen through the Manhattan barricade<br/>
Looking back across the High Bridge from the Manhattan side you can see the herringbone pattern ends where the steel span begins<br/>
View south over the Harlem River Drive<br/>
View north up the Harlem River<br/>
Bronx gate house. There were gate houses like this all along the aqueduct<br/>
Ellen Macnow unlocks the gate house<br/>
Inside the Bronx gate house. The gate houses would have been used to divert water if a section had to be emptied for maintenance<br/>