
This August 1938 cover photo shows workers atop a huge steel member of the cable tieback system during the erection of the Arrigoni Bridge over the Connecticut River between Middletown and Portland, Conn.
The bridge consists of twin 600-ft-long, three-hinged tied arches with plate girder approaches. The erection method involved building two half-spans as cantilever arms balanced by temporary cable tiebacks between the top chords of the trusses over the center pier.
This method was used because it required a minimum of falsework. The bridge’s superstructure was built by the fabricated steel division of Bethlehem Steel Co.