You might not have noticed the service alerts, but the Broadway Bridge was raised twice today, disrupting (1) train service both times.
10:35 AM
8:00 PM
Some people probably assumed that the “Barge of Death” was coming or going, but that was not the case.
In the morning, the Broadway Bridge was raised to allow a “spud barge” to be moved from west of the bridge to east of the bridge. This spud barge had been hanging around the area for a week.
Then, this evening, the Broadway Bridge was raised again. Once it was up, the new Circle Line boat “Manhattan” came through, followed by the spud barge.
I’m not sure why the Circle Line boat was waiting for the bridge to go up (it was waiting for at least 10 minutes), because they usually pass under the bridge. In fact, earlier today we saw a Circle Line boat pass under the bridge just fine. My guess is that either the water level was higher than normal, reducing clearance, or that the Circle Line crew wanted to give their passengers an up close view of the bridge going up (not that there were many passengers – the boat was almost completely empty from what I could see).
Here are some photos from this evening’s events:
And some BONUS Metro-North Railroad photos:
MTA has some great service alerts..I want to see them bypass 242nd St!
Yes, “bypass” is hardly the right word. Why not call them what they are – “stations without service” ?