Crook Point Bascule Bridge

also known as Seekonk River drawbridge S.S. K-315, Standing Bridge, the “Stuck-up Bridge”

The “Scherzer Rolling Lift Bridge” at Crook Point was abandoned in 1976 but once carried Providence, East Providence, Warren, & Bristol train lines

images of this Property

Postcard from the Edward Ozog Photograph Collection, Providence Public Library
From the collection of Facebook user Larry Depetrillo, scanned from RI Annual Reports; date unknown
Photo by Leo King, circa 1954

19 images: Press to view larger or scroll sideways to see more. Postcard from the Providence Public Library Digital Collection, photo scan from Larry Depetrillo, and a photo by Leo King.

Copyright prevents the display of these images:R.I. puts Providence’s distinctive drawbridge down for demolition, Providence Journal

About this Property

Current Events

An icon in its own right, the bridge that seems to be permanently stuck in the up position has hung over the Seekonk River since 1976. It’s silhouette can easily be seen as you pass over the Washington Bridge in a car on I-195 going East or West. The heavy iron structure recalls a time in engineering when heft was best… obviously, the bridge was built to last, and shows very little signs of structural damage, aside from the fires here and there that have slightly damaged the thick wooden railroad ties. The significance of this structure is partly the way it is stuck in time. To remove the bridge or to get it working again and turn it into a pedestrian walkway from East Providence to Fox Point might deny the bridge’s meaningful existence as a snapshot of history.

Plans to redevelop this parcel along the waterfront have surfaced over the years and then quickly return to the bottom of the river. The town of East Providence was under redevelopment along its waterfront in the aughts, but the bridge remained. An extension of the East Bay bike path was installed along the waterfront and India Point Park in 2016-2018, but the bridge remains.

The populace generally has fond feelings towards the bridge and people think of it fondly as a landmark. It’s probably one of the most photographed bridges in New England. Unlike other bridges that have been demolished after being decommissioned (Jamestown Bridge, for example), this bridge seems to have won its way into the hearts and minds of the area residents.

History

The bridge has many names, some technical but most colloquial: The bridge opened with the name “Crook Point Bascule Bridge” (Bascule Bridge definition in Wikipedia), which is technically a “Scherzer Rolling Lift Bridge”; the DOT knows the bridge as the Seekonk River Drawbridge S.S. K-315; most of the rest of us call it the Drawbridge, or the Seekonk River Bridge, or the Stuck-Up Bridge, or simply the Up Bridge. It was built around 1908 – at the same time as the East Side Railroad Tunnel – to connect the East Side and Downtown Providence with East Providence. The bridge served the Warren and Bristol train lines running east to west, and from Union Station, could connect out to the Providence and Worcester.

A video from SBR Productions featuring archiving footage of riding the rails from the East Side and through the Tunnel to East Providence.

From “RHODE ISLAND: An Inventory of Historic Engineering and Industrial Sites”, Gary Kulik and Julia C. Bonham, 1978

The Phoenix Bridge Company, of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, built this single leaf, bascule railroad bridge over the Seekonk River in 1907. Approached by deck plate girder spans resting on cut-stone piers, the lift portion spans 200 feet. The bridge was designed by the Scherzer Rolling Lift Bridge Company of Chicago and carried the tracks of the Providence, Warren & Bristol line. Rolling lift bridges of this type were first developed in Chicago in the early 1890s. The bridge, the only of its type in the state, is still in use.

In the News

R.I. puts Providence’s distinctive drawbridge down for demolition

by Patrick Anderson
Providence Journal | July 30, 2019

The 111-year-old Crook Point Bascule Bridge has stood in an upright and locked position over the Seekonk River since it was abandoned more than four decades ago.

The demise of Providence’s most recognizable derelict railroad bridge may finally be approaching — albeit several years in the future — and with it the beginning of a movement to try to save the structure.

The 111-year-old Crook Point Bascule Bridge has stood in an upright and locked position over the Seekonk River since it was abandoned more than four decades ago. But quietly last year, the state Department of Transportation for the first time included plans for its demolition in a long-term list of state transportation projects. The bridge’s date with the wrecking ball: 2026-2027, according to the DOT’s Transportation Improvement Plan.

But the longer the bridge has thrust awkwardly into the sky between Providence and East Providence, and the more decrepit it’s become, the more distressing the idea of losing it seems to many in the area.

The bridge’s dark silhouette has been screenprinted on popular T-shirts, its symbolism of urban decay studied at Brown University and its rusted metal tagged by graffiti artists.

Hearing the state DOT was formulating demolition plans, first reported by WPRI, Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza is now offering to have the city take ownership of the bridge to preserve it.

“The historic Crook Point Bridge is a landmark and one that the City would like to see preserved,” Elorza spokeswoman Emily Crowell wrote in an email Tuesday. “We are engaging with RIDOT in hope that they would consider transferring the bridge to the City in the future.”

Opened in 1908, the drawbridge was abandoned in 1976 and fixed upright to allow boats to pass while avoiding the expense of tearing it down.

— _Captured November 23, 2020 from https://www.providencejournal.com/news/20190730/ri-puts-providences-distinctive-drawbridge-down-for-demolition

10 Anecdotes from people like you

I have wondered how this has survived so many years despite the railroad at each end being severed. But this is not “the Red Bridge”; that automotive bridge carried Waterman Street/Waterman Avenue across the Seekonk on a center-swing span. With the elimination of the New Haven Railroad tracks in East Providence, one can now (in 2020) drive down the right-of-way to a tiny stub of the eastern landing of the Red Bridge, but it is discontinuous with the rest of Waterman Avenue.

Paul June 10, 2020

Believe it or not, when I was at Fox Point Elementary School, I played hooky more than once and we would hide in the tall grass by the tracks as the slow moving freight cars would appear from the tunnel, and grab a ride across the Black Bridge to East Providence… I remember this scene well, as a youngster, this was an adventurous place, from hopping the slow moving boxcars, to the large (to us) water rats as we called them. Also remember the cars in the river. At the time, India Point was a large scrapyard, where cars were crushed, and big cranes with large magnets would pile the scrap metal for loading on ships bound for Japan. The old “Red Bridge” that I used was before the Henderson bridge was built. Used to ride my bike across it on the wooden walkways on each side. The bridge would turn to let ships pass by on either side, and sometimes it would get stuck in place, which was a big problem before commerce on the river slowly diminished…

chris November 21, 2015

I am 75 yrs old and I grew up on Pitman street Providence. I can remember the steam locomotives going across the bridge and into the tunnel. I can only remember 2 names for the bridge, Crook Point bridge, and Jack-knife bridge. It sure was a long time ago…

lester goulart September 12, 2014

Anyone know how tall the bridge is?

Dimitri October 23, 2011

I wanted to let you know that my 2008 post on the Seekonk RR Drawbridge has been updated with a vintage postcard purchased on Ebay showing the bridge, plus three color photos I took in the spring of 73. Feel free to link to the page and here’s the url: open.salon.com/blog/designanator/2008/08/10/providence_part_four (now defunct. A.I.R.: See our link under History to archive.org)

John Ballantine May 4, 2011

Actually, I just referenced some pictures I took of the bridge a few years ago, and in approximately that same spot, on the east side of Providence, there is evidence of where the operator house was on the left… Beams jutting out from the left side of the bridge. Also, what remains of the utility poles that once carried those power lines are on the left, consistent with the old photo.

Marc December 24, 2009

My daughter says she’s heard it called the “Dead Bridge” (cf. the Red Bridge, upstream).

Mark Sawtelle March 26, 2009

i’ve heard lots of people call it the “ghost bridge” before. i often incorrectly refer to it as the “red bridge”. it’s sort of red. right?

mickey January 26, 2009

I think it was the summer of 1982 when I was a student in the film department at RISD that I first encountered the bridge. In those days you could still get into the tunnel that led from beside Thomas street, above The Blue Point restaurant to near the area of the bridge. I used to drive my International Harvester Scout through that narrow tunnel on occasion. That was a great vehicle. It had the steering wheel on the right hand side since it was originally used for delivering mail. I could drive like a maniac and my front seat passenger, whoever was fool-hearty enough to drive with me, would always get the blame. One day, I just decided I would climb to the top of that bridge. It was long before the fire which damaged it badly, and it looked like some kind of giant ladder, perfect. I had a video camera with me to document the experience. It was a brand-new, early, state-of-the-art Panasonic “Porta-Pack.” This was a VHS unit that had a camera with a long cable attached to a separate recording deck you had to sling over your shoulder and carry along. It was bulky and cumbersome but it was incredible, and I felt like the luckiest person in the world to be able to actually use this kind of thing. It was a bright, sunny day, maybe a Sunday, as I climbed up holding the camera in one hand and navigating the “rungs”/ties with the other. I narrated my thoughts simultaneously. The most striking thing I remember was the view. When I got to the top, I felt like I was the last person on earth for a moment or two. I sat up there for I don’t know how long, my feet dangling over the water, just watching the world and enjoying it immensely. I later showed the video in class and my teacher just about had a heart attack, some of my fellow students too, seriously. I didn’t get into trouble, but I never heard the end of it. I think the story may still be told within the hallowed halls of the department. Where is that tape?

Richard Goulis January 25, 2009

you folks might be interested in this one. this is the only pic i’ve ever been able to come across of the bridge in the “down” position: photos.nerail.org/showpic/?photo=2004051712391620075.jpg i remember seeing it down a few times when i was very young and driving over the old Red Bridge between the East Side and E. Prov.

john September 10, 2008

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About this Property

#Current Events

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#In the News

R.I. puts Providence’s distinctive drawbridge down for demolition

Current Events

History

In the News