*READ DESCRIPTION*~*FDNY BOX 8958*~*RARE CATCH OF FDNY MARINE UNITS OPERATING FOR UNUSUAL INCIDENT*. 

We have a bridge just like this where I live, and the FD has to do this at least once a year to cool the road deck. The steel and the asphalt heat up so fast in the mid day sun if they open the bridge, that it elongates in inches and cant be closed again till the metal and asphalt are cooled enough that they shrink back down.

JJ: All bridges have thermo expansion joints that expand and contract due to ambient temperatures. Because of the extreme heat those joints could have expanded enough to jam. Spraying them with H2O will cool them down and contraction will result. In these temperatures even RR engineers have to keep watch on the tracks because even they can develop kinks or bulges. Just say'n.

The first Marine unit of sorts I ever recall seeing was in 1973 when I lived in New Jersey, when they were filming the movie The Seven Ups. Both a Marine unit and a Coast Guard boat were in attendance in case of a mishap. Great catch, please stay safe! Greetings from Los Angeles.

Your videos are so enlightening! Fire department is so much broader than fires alone. They have to know so much about so many things. Heroes for sure. Thank you for your super interesting reports. I feel for you struggling with the heat. 113° here today in Phoenix--but then we have this thing called air conditioning...

Great video JJ as you say always something different in NYC be safe

Great video JJ. Can't imagine how hot it is down there where the concrete is absorbing all the heat. Up here outside of Albany it's 95 degrees with a heat index of 100. Not nice.

Outstanding video, this is a rare situation. FDNY has to handle a lot for the people of the city of New York. Stay well

Unusual one but interesting to say the least thanks for taking us to another part of the city.

Thanks for the first hand look. Quite a problem for traffic. Lots of water spray. Interesting!

John great video. Keep yourself hydrated. Dehydration and heat 12:57 12:59 13:02 exhaustion can cause stomach ailments and headaches etc. as a warning. Take it from a former NYC Buff and a Navy Vet. Even here in Western NC I bring a Nalgene bottle filled with ice and cold water. I’m close to the Blue Ridge Parkway and about a 45 minute drive to the Great Smokey National Park.

Awesome job JJ great video perfect catch..I seen on the news.. Thanks be safe in the heat..This was a crazy situation.. Great job FDNY

Great video JJ

Just another day in the Bronx. Thanks John. Stay cool.

Nice video! Be safe on those tracks/right of way.

Great catch John. I’m sure anyone who lives in a city on a river that has bridges like this can relate to this experience. Baltimore has a couple it none like this. One just lifted straight and the other was one of those action movie bridges, where both sides raise up and down. Both of them broke in the past causing a big tie up.

Nice catch JJ --- Debbie & Tiffany

Wow that's pretty cool. I didn't know About that type of bridge

John,I have gone over that particular bridge many times(walking or driving) going back to the 1960's,and plenty of history behind it.Rare to see this particular sight, John, however, anything is possible in the Big Apple,my friend.

Chicago's bascule bridges have experienced heat expansion a few times and CFD uses the same tactics to get things back in place.

It is the same as with rail tracks that get too hot, they will turn into spaghetti lol bridges have the same problem, new bridges are build with a bigger gap between the bridge and the road, older ones dont and get stuck, it happens all over the world hehe, nice footage John, they should have used the other boat aswel too cool the other side off that bridge.

Great coverage showing another side to FDNY, the metall structure has expanded and twisted, the whole bridge will have to cool down, to get rid of the twist and as you say in that heat, it will need to cool down, we get the same in the UK in extreme heat, though at the present here it is more rain and cold, than actual sun.... lol stay safe pal

This morning near me in Toledo OH a bridge was opened for a vessel. When they closed it they didn't get the signal that it was securely closed. Then a driver went thru 3 of the 4 gates to stop traffic and now the bridge is closed indefinitely. Coincidence. No such thing. William M. Freehan was the Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner. He was at the North Tower when it collapsed on 9-11. Thanks John!🚒🇺🇸

Great work. JJ Keep your health up. Based upon where they are spraying, I'm guessing that they are trying to shrink the bridge deck -- because the high temperature expanded the bridge deck so that is no longer able to slide back in place .. just a guess.

Now that's hottt! 😂 What a day! Stay cool my brotha! "Keep Calm and Call FDNY" 💯

Great coverage of this incident. It's amazing how the heat of the day can effect bridges and RR tracks and such. A little expansion really ads up when you're talking huge structures like bridges. Stay safe John. Hope you grabbed a cool beverage after this video.

It's a turntable bridge and those bridges are used on the Mississippi for rail roads

Interesting situation!

GREAT JOB BRO👍💯💯

Great job man

It's almost like if the bridge was thirsty

Thank you bro , safe and stay cool!🙏 Expansion and contraction is a b****

Can't you swim out or go rent a boat ?😂

Thank you. It was interesting.

Its crazy how many different things FDNY and others have to problem solve.

awesome job! there are two marine 6 marine 6A one is flat bottom. other boat was marine 3. (the one spraying) the one moving away is marine battalion with three engines…from may to sept (ish) there are other raft types fdny units one is jamaica bay behind engine 331 quarters howard beach, one is out of fort totten near the white stone thoggs neck bridge other is bklyn area…these are two man boats with one small deck gun…..great video it’s extremely hot here too nj shore……❤

Thanks for chasing this down JJ. Everything except da Bronx was burning today. Stay hydrated! 🚒💦💦

It looks like the bridge deck and the road surface either buckled or expanded to a point the bridge can't close, that's my thinking...

I assume the "mechanism" is in the center of the bridge where it pivots. I can't imagine the heat from the sun expanding the bridge enough to jam it, but that's apparently what's happened, or the bridge is so old and rickety that its parts are flopping out of place. Anyway, the FDNY is not the agency that can fix it.

Unfortunately its a lot of salt water being sprayed on the bridge deck. That will likely cause some maintenance issues down the line

JJ, YOU ALWAYS GIVE US YOUR BEST EFFORT BUDDY! AND YOUR COMMENTARY ON THE SITUATION IS GREAT! LIKE YOU SAY , THERES ALWAYS SOMETHING TO COVER IN NEW YORK. AND NOT ALWAYS A FIRE! ITS APPRECIATED THAT YOU ALWAYS TRY TO GET THE “ WHOLE STORY!” THANKS AGAIN, ISNT IT A GETTING AROUND THE TIME FOR YOU TOO GET SOME GRUB! 👍

While bridge decks can expand and contract with changes in temperature, this appears to be a mechanical failure.

My buddy.. was the Head engineer who put this bridge in..!! He's retired, and Laughing his Azz off .. They KNEW..THEY Shouldn't open it.. roadway would EXPAND.. Said they Normally send Boat's around the other way -Hudson, cannot imagine,, why.. they would open it..

Just supposition, but here goes, based on what I see. The operating mechanism is in the center, on the “island”- they are not cooling that part. They are cooling both ends of the rotating portion. I believe the bridge has expanded and is now just slightly too long to close. They are trying to cool it to “shrink” it back to normal length. ????

Great catch just j bloody ripper mate

Extreme heat has been known to cause large structures, including bridges to expand beyond their intended limits. Wonder if this thing expanded its length enough to cause interference and jammed it??? It would explain the watering the end of the structure possibly trying to shrink it down quicker. When they said it overheated I thought it meant the rotator mechanism in the center. There's no big power equipment at the ends. They'll keep spraying it until it shrinks enough to get it to close properly.

With hotter weather, this will happen more often and with our old infrastructure wont be able to handle it.

Nice one

I bet that messed up traffic. Got your exercise on this one

I have got to see one in action

Thats interesting.

Linear expansion

The concrete expansion from the high heat can cause this. I hit a buckled stretch of highway at speed and it just about made it a really bad day.

That’s the normal in Chicago during extreme heat

a bit unusual task ...

Great catch of the "eye candy", JJ!! 😁Seriously, In high temperature situations, steel and concrete expand. This is why they have expansion joints: When driving over a bridge you may see sections of the road separated by interlocking "dragon's teeth" that allow the road to expand without buckling. or in the case of this bridge, to close properly because the turning section expanded to the point where it could not swing past the fixed section. I believe the FDNY were attempting to cool the gap between the fixed and turning sections of the bridge which would cause it to retract and allow the bridge to close. I have attached a brief video of a train track buckling in the heat due to expansion. Sorry that I was and still am an engineer at heart. ru-vid.comumoHun-34mU

After the bridge closes, it has to be inspected by DOT engineering.

We came and we saw 2N2

No RAC boat?

No entry No fishing No swimming

No issue with the mechanism,,, the bridge got Hot and got longer and could not spin back into Location so Cooling down to make the Bridge Shrink

Keep an eye out this might happen again tomorrow when it his 90 degrees

I would like to know where the new super pumper is / rick

This happens in Chicago and the fire department does the same thing so I'm assuming it helps.