New York Got So Hot That A Swing Bridge Jammed Open

The world is changing around us, with global temperatures continuing to trend upwards in recent years. This fact has been suggested as the cause for all manner of calamities, from forest fires to hurricanes. On Monday, though, the heat was apparently to blame for a swing bridge in New York that jammed before it had rotated into position to align with the roadways it spans.

The span in question is New York’s Third Avenue Bridge. It crosses the Harlem River, linking Manhattan with the Bronx. It’s a swing bridge, which rotates about its center point in order to allow larger ships to pass through the river. That’s all well and good when it works.

When it doesn’t, though, it quickly becomes a story. As covered by CBS News, New York’s high ambient temperature was apparently to blame. When crews attempted to close the bridge around 3 p.m., it became stuck, with the sweltering summer heat blamed for the jam by authorities.

Third Avenue Bridge Stuck 🌉
📍#NYC
The 3rd Ave Bridge stuck is stuck in the "open" position due to overheating machinery. FDNY Marine Units are en route to assist in cooling down the machinery to expedite the closure of the Third Avenue Bridge. Avoid the area and expect traffic… pic.twitter.com/zlEHGSC0eE

— Citizen NYC (@CitizenAppNYC) July 8, 2024

When workers first tried to close the bridge, the swing span would not line up with its locking mechanism. It effectively became jammed in a semi-open position. The New York Department of Transport put the problem down to thermal expansion. With the mercury hitting 95 F at 2 p.m., Monday marked the city’s hottest day of the year so far. The high temperatures are set to continue throughout the week, as New York grapples with an unwelcome heatwave.

The explanation is a curious one. While it’s true that metal does expand with heat, this is not the first hot day that New York has suffered through. Temperatures have exceeded 100 F in July multiple times from 2010 to 2012, while recent years have seen temperatures as high as 98 F. The city’s all-time record is 106 F, recorded in 1936.

It’s so hot in NYC that the Third Ave Bridge over the Harlem River can’t fully open/close because the heat has expanded the steel. We saw workers using a saw to shave part of the steel down & fire boats shooting water on the bridge to cool it down @nbcnewyork #nbc4ny #nyc #heat pic.twitter.com/lAxdyXNHEP

— Jesse Hamilton (@JesseJHamilton) July 8, 2024

The bridge has existed in its current form since October 2004, when a new swing span was installed. It’s likely the bridge has seen quite a few hot days in its almost 20 years of operation hence. However, there’s one big reason why this likely hasn’t occurred before: The bridge typically only opens around four times per year, according to a report from the New York DOT. It may just be that the bridge has never been open and closed on a particularly hot day before.

In any case, the jam was quite the inconvenience. The bridge typically sees over 55,000 vehicles a day. Authorities on the scene worked to free the bridge up as quickly as possible. Notably, a marine firefighting unit from the Fire Department of New York stepped in to help, spraying down the bridge in an attempt to cool it to the point where it could close successfully. Workers were eventually able to close the bridge, which reopened at approximately 6:30 p.m.

Warmer weather could see this happen more often if authorities don’t fix the bridges to suit today’s conditions. Other countries are dealing with similar problems. Extreme temperatures in the UK have seen roads melt and railroad tracks buckle because they simply weren’t designed to deal with hotter temperatures.

Hot days can be a drag at the best of times. It’s worse when your commute gets longer because a bridge gets stuck. Here’s hoping this is a strange one-off, because New York fire fighters have better things to do than to spray a bridge all day.

Image credits: Jesse Hamilton via Twitter screenshot, Citizen NYC via Twitter Screenshot