A vertical-lift bridge or just lift bridge is a type of movable bridge in which a span rises vertically while remaining parallel with the deck.

The vertical lift offers several benefits over other movable bridges such as the bascule and swing-span bridges. Generally speaking, they cost less to build for longer moveable spans.^[1] The counterweights in a vertical lift are only required to be equal to the weight of the deck, whereas bascule bridge counterweights must weigh several times as much as the span being lifted. As a result, heavier materials can be used in the deck, and so this type of bridge is especially suited for heavy railroad use. The biggest disadvantage to the vertical-lift bridge (in comparison with many other designs) is the height restriction for vessels passing under it, due to the deck remaining suspended above the passageway.

Most vertical-lift bridges use towers, each equipped with counterweights. An example of this kind was built at La Salle in Illinois, United States in 1929 (and demolished in 2001).^[2]

Another design uses balance beams to lift the deck, with pivoting bascules located on the top of the lift towers.^[3]

See List of vertical-lift bridges.

• One of the vertical-lift bridges over the Gouwe River, built in 1930
• ASB Bridge in Kansas City, Missouri
• Arthur Kill Vertical Lift Bridge has the longest lift span of any vertical-lift bridge in the world
• Hawthorne Bridge (in Portland, Oregon, U.S.), built in 1910, the oldest vertical-lift bridge in the United States^[4]
• Clarence St. Bridge in Port Colborne, Ontario
• Guaiba Bridge, which crosses Lake Guaíba, in Porto Alegre, Brazil

• A lift bridge over the Erie Canal at Lockport, New York
• A lift bridge, elevated at both ends
• A lift bridge near its upward position, pedestrians may cross when it is raised by using stairways
• Small lift bridge in Nowa Sól, Poland
• Portage Lake Lift Bridge linking Houghton, MIchigan to Hancock, Michigan
• An Sr1 locomotive pulling lumber across a lift bridge north of Kuopio railway station in Finland

• Moveable bridges for a list of other movable bridge types
• Submersible bridge for a similar disappearing bridge
• Table bridge for a vertical-lift bridge without visible lifting means