HAER Report

Woodland Place Viaduct

The Woodland Place Viaduct was designed as a substitute structure for a proposed steel viaduct at Tibbits Avenue in White Plains. The Public Service Commission (PSC) had approved a steel viaduct that was to be 16'-wide and have a grade of 9 percent on the westerly end. The BPC considered the utilitarian steel structure inappropriate for the parkway and sent Downer to persuade the City of White Plains trustees to switch to a more compatible arched concrete design, which it proposed to relocate to Woodland Place. The BPC emphasized that this alternative was desirable for economic as well as for aesthetic reasons. The steep ravine at the Woodland Place location would need to be bridged in any case, and the proposed design would cross the river and the railroad at the same time, solving all three problems with one strategically placed structure. The city and the New York Central Railroad Company adopted the change, which was also approved by the Public Service Commission. Guy Vroman was hired to design the viaduct and estimate its cost.(208) Although city officials readily approved the Woodland Place Viaduct substitution, some White Plains citizens were not pleased with the decision. The White Plains Daily Argus questioned why the Tibbits Avenue Bridge was being sidetracked when the city needed as many bridges as it could get to accommodate growth. Others charged that the city was cheating them out of a bridge that was to be largely paid for by the railroad and state. They claimed that the BPC was robbing them of a right-of-way that had been used for more than a hundred years.(209)

The PSC approved Vroman as the designing engineer for the Woodland Place Viaduct in January 1920, but the project did not go to bid until March 1921. The J. F. Cogan Company, Contractors, of New York, submitted the lowest of twelve bids on the project and was awarded a contract for $167,997.50. Downer had estimated the project to cost $163,045.00. He reported to the BPC that the Cogan firm had good references and noted that the company had built the Croton Falls Dam, a viaduct in Washington, D. C., and several bridges in New York City.(210) Palmer and Hornbostel of New York City were the consulting architects. The City of White Plains, State of New York, and the New York Central Railroad contributed $41,600 towards the cost of the viaduct, which was the estimated price of the Tibbits Avenue Viaduct. Work began on the viaduct in May 1921. The viaduct was an open-spandrel arch bridge constructed with four ribs and an arch span of 145' with a 33' rise. The BPC maintained that the bridge had "an agreeable treatment of balustrade details" and suggested that it would be an impressive structure when viewed from the long vistas in the valley. Downer described the bridge as a "graceful and notable example of concrete bridge construction." The removal of high-tension lines "unavoidably" delayed completion of the viaduct by several months. Downer reported that the contractor worked at a steady pace and did excellent work. The Woodland Place Viaduct was completed on September 20, 1922, at a cost of $168,806.60.(211)