Gregory Avenue Bridge, earlier known as the Main Avenue Bridge, is road bridge over the

Passaic River Passaic River ( ) is a river, approximately long, in Northern New Jersey. The river in its upper course flows in a highly circuitous route, meandering through the swamp lowlands between the ridge hills of rural and suburban northern New Jersey, ...

northeastern New Jersey The Gateway Region is the primary urbanized area of the northeastern section of New Jersey. It is anchored by Newark, the state's most populous city. While sometimes known as the Newark metropolitan area, it is part of the New York metropolitan ...

, United States. It is the 7th bridge to be built at the river crossing. Originally built in 1905 as a

moveable bridge A moveable bridge, or movable bridge, is a bridge that moves to allow passage for boats or barges. In American English, the term is synonymous with , and the latter is the common term, but drawbridge can be limited to the narrower, historical d ...

, it has been in a fixed closed position since 1985. A four lane road carries traffic between

Passaic Passaic ( or ) is a city in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city had a total population of 70,537, ranking as the 16th largest municipality in New Jersey and an increase of 656 from the 69,7 ...

& Wallington at the

and

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

county line Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...

Location and operations

The lower of the Passaic River downstream of the

Dundee Dam The Dundee Canal was an industrial canal in Clifton and Passaic in Passaic County, New Jersey. It was built between 1858 and 1861 and ran parallel to the Passaic River. It supplied hydropower and water for manufacturing. There was interest by some ...

is tidally influenced and channelized. Once one of the most heavily used waterways in the

Port of New York and New Jersey The Port of New York and New Jersey is the port district of the New York-Newark metropolitan area, encompassing the region within approximately a radius of the Statue of Liberty National Monument. It includes the system of navigable water ...

, it remains partially

navigable A body of water, such as a river, canal or lake, is navigable if it is deep, wide and calm enough for a water vessel (e.g. boats) to pass safely. Such a navigable water is called a ''waterway'', and is preferably with few obstructions against dir ...

for commercial

marine traffic Maritime transport (or ocean transport) and hydraulic effluvial transport, or more generally waterborne transport, is the transport of people (passengers) or goods (cargo) via waterways. Freight transport by sea has been widely used throu ...

. The bridge has been in fixed closed position since 1977 and only bridge at MP 11.7 and those downstream from it are required by federal regulations to open.

Acquackanonk Bridge

The City of Passaic was originally part of Acquackanonk, and the area which would become Wallington, across the Passaic River, was a plantation owned by Walling Van Winkle. The first Acquackanonk Bridge, built sometime before 1741 during the colonial era, was a foot bridge that crossed from Passaic just upstream of the location of the Gregory Avenue Bridge A second wooden bridge built from 1766 and was burned during Washington's 1776 Great Retreat from Fort Lee during the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

. A nearby tavern was Washington's headquarters. Another replacement was built in 1776, followed by three others which existed in the periods 1835–65, 1863–90, and 1890–1904.

Paterson Plank Road

Paterson Plank Road Paterson Plank Road is a road that runs through Passaic, Bergen and Hudson Counties in northeastern New Jersey. The route, originally laid in the colonial era, connects the city of Paterson and the Hudson River waterfront. It has largely been su ...

was completed over the crossing in 1841. The company which built the Paterson and New York Plank Road, as it was called, received its charter on March 14, 1851. Over time it was upgraded and at one point had

streetcar A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

lines on its entire length operated by the

Public Service Railway Transport of New Jersey (TNJ), earlier Public Service Transportation and then Public Service Coordinated Transport, was a street railway and bus company in the U.S. state of New Jersey from 1917 to 1980, when NJ Transit took over their operations ...

as the 15 Passaic, 17 Hudson, and 35 Secaucus.

Design, construction, adaptions

The Main Avenue (or Gregory Avenue) Bridge was built in 1906 by the Oswego Bridge Company. It is a swing bridge

thru truss A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss, a structure of connected elements, usually forming triangular units. The connected elements (typically straight) may be stressed from tension, compression, or s ...

rim-bearing swing bridge that rests on ashlar abutments, and carries two vehicular lanes and two sidewalks. Most of the bridge is riveted together, but the center tower uses eyebars in its construction. In 1985 both the operator's house on the bridge and the machinery below it were removed. The bridge deck was also replaced at the same time.

References

{{Crossings navbox , structure =

Crossings Crossings may refer to: * ''Crossings'' (Buffy novel), a 2002 original novel based on the U.S. television series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' * Crossings (game), a two-player abstract strategy board game invented by Robert Abbott * ''Crossings'' ...

, place =

, bridge = Gregory Avenue Bridge , bridge signs = , upstream = Market Street Bridge , upstream signs = , downstream = Union Avenue Bridge , downstream signs = Bridges over the Passaic River Swing bridges in the United States Buildings and structures in Passaic, New Jersey Wallington, New Jersey Bridges in Passaic County, New Jersey Bridges in Bergen County, New Jersey Bridges completed in 1905 1905 establishments in New Jersey Road bridges in New Jersey Oswego Bridge Company Steel bridges in the United States

Location and operations

Acquackanonk Bridge

Paterson Plank Road

Design, construction, adaptions

See also

References