#8 Greenpoint Avenue Bridge aka John Jay Byrne Memorial Bridge

Greenpoint Avenue Bridge aka John Jay Byrne Memorial Bridge, December 3, 2009
Keith Nelson on a 26" and Rob Hickman on a 24"

The Greenpoint Avenue Bridge over Newtown Creek was a two and a half mile ride from our starting point. Here we broke double digits.

From the New York City Department of Transportation:

Greenpoint Avenue aka John Jay Byrne Memorial Bridge is a four-lane local City street in Queens and Kings Counties. Greenpoint Avenue runs northeast and extends from West Street (East River) in Greenpoint, Brooklyn and turns into Roosevelt Avenue in Sunnyside, Queens. The Greenpoint Avenue Bridge, also known as the J. J. Byrne Memorial Bridge, is located approximately 2.2km from the mouth of Newtown Creek. The bridge is situated between Kingsland Avenue in Greenpoint, Brooklyn and Review Avenue in the Blissville section of Queens. The Greenpoint Avenue Bridge is a double-leaf trunnion bascule, with 21.3m wide leaves. This bridge is a steel girder structure with a filled grid deck. The bridge provides a channel with a horizontal clearance of 45.4m and in the closed position a vertical clearance of 7.9m at MHW and 9.4m at MLW. The bridge structure carries a four-lane two-way vehicular roadway with a 1.2m striped median and sidewalks on either side. The roadway width is 8.6m and the sidewalks are 4.0m and 3.7m for the north and south sidewalk respectively. The approach roadways are narrower than the bridge roadway. The west approach and east approach roadways are 17.1m (including 1.4m center median) and 11.9m respectively.

The first bridge on this site, a drawbridge known as the Blissville, was built in the 1850's. It was succeeded by three other bridges before a new one was completed in March 1900 at a cost of $58,519. That bridge received extensive repairs after a fire in 1919 damaged parts of the center pier fender, the southerly abutment, and the superstructure. Until that time, the bridge had also carried tracks of the Long Island Rail Road. The current bridge was built in 1987.
From Wikipedia: The Greenpoint Avenue Bridge is a drawbridge that carries Greenpoint Avenue across Newtown Creek between Greenpoint, Brooklyn and Blissville, Queens. Greenpoint Avenue continues eastward into Queens where it connects to Roosevelt Avenue.

Also known as the J. J. Byrne Memorial Bridge, the bridge is named after James J. Byrne, who served as Brooklyn Borough President from September 1926 until he died in office on March 14, 1930. Previously, Byrne was the Brooklyn Commissioner of Public Works.
From Queens
The Greenpoint Avenue Bridge is the sixth bridge to cross Newtown Creek in this location. In the 1850s, Neziah Bliss built the first drawbridge, which was called the Blissville Bridge. It was followed by three other bridges before being replaced by a new bridge in March 1900. A new bridge opened in 1929 and after suffering from mechanical problems it was replaced by the current structure in 1987.
Designed by Hardesty & Hanover, the Greenpoint Avenue Bridge was the recipient of an American Institute of Steel Construction Award in 1991.
On March 30, 2009, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg held a press conference at the Greenpoint Avenue Bridge, announcing that it would receive $6 million in federal stimulus funds, which will be used to rehabilitate the bridge.