Ward's Island Bridge (New York City, New York)

 footbridge, vertical-lift bridge / lift bridge

The Ward's Island Bridge is unique among New York City's East River crossings in that it carries pedestrian and bicycle traffic only.

The Ward's Island Bridge is a pedestrian bridge crossing the Harlem River between Manhattan Island and Ward's Island. Along the River, the Bridge is located between exits 14 and 15 of the FDR Drive in an area known as Spanish Harlem and connects on the west side of Wards Island and provides easy access to the playing fields, bicycle paths and scenic waterfront.

This vertical-lift bridge has a total of twelve spans consisting of steel towers and girders. Spans one through four are located on the Manhattan side of the bridge and are oriented from south to north. At span five the bridge turns from west to east. The curb-to-curb width of the lift span is 3.66m. The clear width of the Manhattan approach ramp is 3.66m and the clear width of the Wards Island approach ramp measures about 3.76m. The total length of the movable portion of the bridge is 100.6m and the total overall length is 285.6m.

The first known Bridge to Wards Island (formerly Great Barn Island) was built in 1807. It was funded by Philip Milledolar and Bartholomew Ward to aid their cotton business on the small island. This wooden drawbridge, connecting East 114th Street in Manhattan to the northwest corner of the island, lasted until 1821, when a storm destroyed all but the stone piers. A local law of 1949 authorized the construction of the 103rd St. footbridge to be built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1951. It was designed by Othmar Hermann Ammann of the firm Ammann & Whitney to accommodate visitors to Wards Island's park, stadium, psychiatric hospitals, and athletic facilities.

The Bridge is available for use from April through October during daylight hours. During the months from November through March, the bridge is kept in the “open” position and cannot be accessed.