Thaddeus Kosciusko Northway Bridge

The Thaddeus Kosciusko Northway Bridges are a pair of steel through arch spans that carry Interstate 87 over the Mohawk River in Albany and Saratoga County, New York.

---

History

In 1955, the New York State Legislature authorized the construction of the Northway, a proposed 176-mile Albany to Canada highway that was projected to cost $100 million. ⁷ On August 5, Governor Averell Harriman announced tentative plans for the Northway crossing of the Mohawk River in the vicinity of Dunsbach Ferry between Crescent and Cohoes. ^{4 7} After its completion, the new crossing would serve as a detour for US Route 9 while the Crescent Bridge over the Mohawk River is reconstructed and enlarged to four lanes.

Bids for the construction of the $5 million Mohawk River bridge were let to the D.A. Collins Construction Company on August 29, 1957. ^{5 9} Bids for the construction of 5½-miles of the Northway, from the bridge south to the Washington Avenue interchange, were opened in September, ⁵ followed by proposals for the construction of 6½-miles of the Northway from the bridge north to Clifton Park in January 1958. ⁶

The substructure for the new bridge was well underway by February 1958 and steel erection, performed by the D.A. Collins Construction Company and the American Bridge Company, began in August. ^{3 8}

The Thaddeus Kosciusko Northway Bridge opened in early 1960 ¹⁰ and received the Most Beautiful Bridge award by the American Institute of Steel Construction. ¹¹

The crossing was named in honor of Polish national Tadeusz Kościuszko who arrived in Colonial America one month after the Declaration of Independence was signed. He remained a notable military leader throughout the Revolutionary War attaining the rank of general as well as honorary American citizenship before returning to Poland in July 1784.

The Northway Bridge was rehabilitated in 1976 and again in 2013. ²

---

Information

• State: New York
• Route: Interstate 87
• Type: Steel Arch
• Status: Active - Automobile
• Total Length: 779 feet
• Main Span Length: 600 feet
• Spans:
• Deck Width: 42 feet
• Above Vertical Clearance: 14.5 feet
• Navigational Clearance:

---

---

Sources

1. Hall, Robert. “Speeding the Adirondack Tourist.” New York Times, 4 Jun. 1961.
2. “I-87 Twin Bridges Deck Replacement.” New York State Department of Transportation.
3. “History.” D.A. Collins Companies.
4. “Crescent Span Faces Long Delay.” Times Record [Troy], 6 Aug. 1955, p. 2.
5. “DAtes Set for First Bids on Northway.” Times Record [Troy], 20 Aug. 1957, p. 7.
6. “Northway Project Bids To Be Opened.” Troy Record, 2 Jan. 1958, p. 14.
7. “Northway Plans Being Drawn.” Troy Record, 12 Apr. 1956, p. 22.
8. “Northway Bridge Steel Work to be Erected in August.” Times Record [Troy], 4 Jun. 1958, p. 8.
9. “Bids Opened on $7,500,000 Area Projects.” Times Record [Troy], 29 Aug. 1957, p. 17.
10. “Northway Bridge.” Times Record [Troy], 13 Apr. 1960, p. 15.
11. “Northway Rest Area Cited in U.S. Highway Beauty Contest.” Glens Galls Times, 6 Apr. 1968, p. 3.