Editing Hell Gate Bridge (section)

==== 1890s progress ====
The [[New York Connecting Railroad]] (NYCR), headed by Oliver W. Barnes, was incorporated in April 1892 to build the bridge.<ref name="n142012554" /><ref>{{cite book |author=New York (State). Legislature. Senate |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_5MlAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA448 |title=Documents of the Senate of the State of New York |year=1914 |page=448 |access-date=August 3, 2018 |issue=v. 8 |archive-date=April 4, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240404034742/https://books.google.com/books?id=_5MlAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA448#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> Throughout the 1890s, the [[New York State Legislature]] considered various bills that would give the NYCR a franchise to construct a bridge from Long Island to the U.S. mainland, but to no avail.<ref name="p574566055">{{cite news |date=February 7, 1899 |title=Ward's Island Bridge Scheme: Reappearance of a Well-known Measure at Albany |work=New-York Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |page=4 |id={{ProQuest|574566055}} |postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=February 7, 1899 |title=For a Bridge Over Hell Gate. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1899/02/07/archives/for-a-bridge-over-hell-gate.html |access-date=February 24, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=February 24, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240224193439/https://www.nytimes.com/1899/02/07/archives/for-a-bridge-over-hell-gate.html |url-status=live}}</ref> The NYCR planned for the bridge to carry a line from Manhattan to [[Brooklyn]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=December 5, 1898 |title=The All-rail Plan Takes on New Life |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-the-all-rail-pl/142010254/ |access-date=February 24, 2024 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |issn=2577-9397 |pages=7 |archive-date=February 24, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240224211517/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-the-all-rail-pl/142010254/ |url-status=live}}</ref> In March 1898, U.S. representative [[John H. Ketcham]] proposed legislation to allow the NYCR to erect a bridge with two or more tracks across the [[Bronx Kill]], [[Little Hell Gate]], and [[Hell Gate]] waterways, connecting [[the Bronx]] (on the U.S. mainland) with [[Randalls and Wards Islands|Randalls Island, Wards Island]], and Long Island.<ref>{{Cite news |date=March 4, 1898 |title=New Bridge Proposed |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-standard-union-new-bridge-proposed/142009560/ |access-date=February 24, 2024 |work=The Standard Union |pages=8 |postscript=none |archive-date=February 24, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240224214548/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-standard-union-new-bridge-proposed/142009560/ |url-status=live}}; {{cite news |date=March 4, 1898 |title=New East River Bridge Proposed: a Bill Introduced in the House by Mr. Ketchan |work=New-York Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |page=2 |id={{ProQuest|574426863}} |postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=March 4, 1898 |title=East River Bridge Bill; Introduced in the House by Representative Ketchum of New York. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1898/03/04/archives/east-river-bridge-bill-introduced-in-the-house-by-representative.html |access-date=February 24, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=February 24, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240224193441/https://www.nytimes.com/1898/03/04/archives/east-river-bridge-bill-introduced-in-the-house-by-representative.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="n142024268">{{Cite news |date=March 4, 1898 |title=Introduction of the Bridge Bill in Congress |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-introduction-of/142024268/ |access-date=February 24, 2024 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |issn=2577-9397 |pages=16 |archive-date=February 24, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240224233126/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-introduction-of/142024268/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Although the [[federal government of the United States]] required that the [[clearance below]] any bridge across the East River (of which the Hell Gate was part) be {{Convert|150|ft}} above [[mean high water]], the bill permitted a bridge as low as {{Convert|140|ft}} above mean high water.<ref name="n142024268" />

By the beginning of 1899, the NYCR had received estimates for a bridge connecting Port Morris in the Bronx, Randalls Island, Wards Islands, and [[Astoria, Queens|Astoria]] in Long Island.<ref name="nyt-1899-01-03">{{Cite news |date=January 3, 1899 |title=News of the Railroads; Franchises and Estimates Secured for a Bridge and Viaduct from Port Morris to Astoria. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1899/01/03/archives/news-of-the-railroads-franchises-and-estimates-secured-for-a-bridge.html |access-date=February 24, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=February 24, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240224211435/https://www.nytimes.com/1899/01/03/archives/news-of-the-railroads-franchises-and-estimates-secured-for-a-bridge.html |url-status=live}}</ref> The {{convert|800|ft|m|-long|adj=mid}}, {{convert|150|ft|m|-high|adj=mid}} bridge was to connect the [[New York Central Railroad]] and NH lines in the Bronx with the [[Long Island Rail Road]] (LIRR) and [[South Brooklyn Railway]] lines on Long Island.<ref name="nyt-1899-01-03" /><ref name="n142011995">{{Cite news |date=March 1, 1898 |title=Railway Connecting Link |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-railway-connect/142011995/ |access-date=February 24, 2024 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |issn=2577-9397 |pages=13 |archive-date=February 24, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240224214539/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-railway-connect/142011995/ |url-status=live}}</ref> A state senator introduced a bill in February 1899 to incorporate the Wards Island Bridge Company to construct the bridge.<ref name="p574566055" /> The following month, the NYCR's directors held a meeting with New York Central's directors about the construction of the line.<ref name="n142011995" /> The New York Central expressed interest in the planned Hell Gate Bridge, as the railroad intended to use it for both passenger and freight traffic.<ref name="p570854593">{{cite news |date=May 6, 1900 |title=Pennsylvania Gets L. I.: Control of the Insular Line Passes to a Great System |work=New-York Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |page=1 |id={{ProQuest|570854593}}}}</ref>