The Newark Drawbridge, also known as the Morristown Line Bridge, is a
railroad bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
on 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, ...
between
Newark
Newark most commonly refers to:
* Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States
* Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area
Newark may also refer to:
Places Canada
* Niagara-on-the ...
and
Harrison
Harrison may refer to:
People
* Harrison (name)
* Harrison family of Virginia, United States
Places
In Australia:
* Harrison, Australian Capital Territory, suburb in the Canberra district of Gungahlin
In Canada:
* Inukjuak, Quebec, or "Po ...
,
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
. The
swing bridge
A swing bridge (or swing span bridge) is a movable bridge that has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its center of gravity, about which the swing span (turning span) can then pi ...
is the 11th bridge from the river's mouth at
Newark Bay
Newark Bay is a tidal bay at the confluence of the Passaic and Hackensack Rivers in northeastern New Jersey. It is home to the Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal, the largest container shipping facility in Port of New York and New Jersey, t ...
and is upstream from it.
Opened in 1903, it is owned and operated by
New Jersey Transit
New Jersey Transit Corporation, branded as NJ Transit, and often shortened to NJT, is a state-owned public transportation system that serves the U.S. state of New Jersey, along with portions of New York State and Pennsylvania. It operates bu ...
.
History
![Passaic River Morristown Line bridge jeh](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/Passaic_River_Morristown_Line_bridge_jeh.jpg)
Rail service across the river was generally oriented to bringing passengers and freight from the points west over the
Hackensack Meadows to
Bergen Hill
Bergen Hill refers to the lower Hudson Palisades in New Jersey, where they emerge on Bergen Neck, which in turn is the peninsula between the Hackensack and Hudson Rivers, and their bays. In Hudson County, it reaches a height of 260 feet.
Rail
...
, where
tunnels and cuts provided access to
terminals on the Hudson River.
In 1836, the
Morris and Essex Railroad
The Morris and Essex Railroad was a railroad across northern New Jersey, later part of the main line of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad.
History
The M&E was incorporated January 29, 1835, to build a line from Newark in Essex Coun ...
established a
right-of-way
Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another.
A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...
from the west at
Orange
Orange most often refers to:
*Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis''
** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower
*Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum
* ...
to Newark, from where it used the
New Jersey Rail Road at
Centre Street to cross the river and travel east to its
terminal at Paulus Hook on the
waterfront in
Jersey City
Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.[Kearny Meadows
Kearny may refer to:
People
*Cresson Kearny (1914–2003, American author and researcher
**Kearny fallout meter
** Kearny air pump
* Eleanor Kearny Carr (1840–1912), American planter and political hostess, First Lady of North Carolina
*Jillian ...]
and began using the
Long Dock Tunnel
The Long Dock Tunnel is a freight rail tunnel in Jersey City, New Jersey that is part of the North Jersey Shared Assets Area and used by CSX Transportation on the National Docks Secondary. The single track (formerly dual track) tunnel runs throu ...
to
Hoboken
Hoboken ( ; Unami: ') is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 60,417. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 58,69 ...
.
In the early 1900s railroad elevated the line approaching the river which previously ran at grade along Division Street in Newark and built the current bridge. Completed in an earlier phase, the bridge was later shifted upstream on the new alignment.
In 1945, the Morris and Essex Railroad officially merged into the
Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad
The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (also known as the DL&W or Lackawanna Railroad) was a U.S. Class 1 railroad that connected Buffalo, New York, and Hoboken, New Jersey (and by ferry with New York City), a distance of . Incorporated in ...
. DL&W merged with the
Erie Railroad
The Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in the northeastern United States, originally connecting New York City — more specifically Jersey City, New Jersey, where Erie's Pavonia Terminal, long demolished, used to stand — with Lake Erie ...
in 1960 to form the
Erie Lackawanna Railroad
The Erie Lackawanna Railway , known as the Erie Lackawanna Railroad until 1968, was formed from the 1960 merger of the Erie Railroad and the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad. The official motto of the line was "The Friendly Service Route" ...
, which was absorbed by
Conrail
Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do busin ...
in 1976;
New Jersey Transit
New Jersey Transit Corporation, branded as NJ Transit, and often shortened to NJT, is a state-owned public transportation system that serves the U.S. state of New Jersey, along with portions of New York State and Pennsylvania. It operates bu ...
has operated all passenger service since 1983.
Operations
The lower of the long 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
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 ...
, but due to the limited maritime traffic the bridge is infrequently required to open.
[ Since 1998 rules regulating drawbridge operations require a 24-hour notice. The bridge at ]milepost
A milestone is a numbered marker placed on a route such as a road, railway line, canal or boundary. They can indicate the distance to towns, cities, and other places or landmarks; or they can give their position on the route relative to so ...
7.48 is used exclusively by New Jersey Transit rail operations
NJ Transit Rail Operations is the rail division of NJ Transit. It operates commuter rail service in New Jersey, with most service centered on transportation to and from New York City, Hoboken, and Newark. NJ Transit also operates rail service i ...
for the Montclair-Boonton Line
The Montclair-Boonton Line is a commuter rail line of New Jersey Transit Rail Operations in the United States. It is part of the Hoboken Division. The line is a consolidation of three individual lines: the former Delaware, Lackawanna & Western R ...
and both branches of the Morris and Essex Lines
The Morris & Essex Lines are a group of former Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad (DL&W) railroad lines in New Jersey now owned and operated by NJ Transit. The lines include service offered on the Morristown Line and the Gladstone Branch. P ...
, the Morristown Line
The Morristown Line is an NJ Transit commuter rail line connecting Morris and Essex counties to New York City, via either New York Penn Station or Hoboken Terminal. Out of 60 inbound and 58 outbound daily weekday trains, 28 inbound and 26 outbound ...
and the Gladstone Branch
The Gladstone Branch (also known as the Gladstone Line) is a commuter rail line operated by NJ Transit from Gladstone station, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, to either Hoboken Terminal or New York Penn Station. It is one of two branches of th ...
. It is situated just east of Newark Broad Street Station, the first stop after the lines travelling west from Hoboken Terminal
Hoboken Terminal is a commuter-oriented intermodal passenger station in Hoboken, Hudson County, New Jersey. One of the New York metropolitan area's major transportation hubs, it is served by nine NJ Transit (NJT) commuter rail lines, one Metr ...
and Secaucus Junction
Secaucus Junction (known as Secaucus Transfer during planning stages and signed simply as Secaucus) is a NJ Transit Rail Operations commuter rail hub in Secaucus, New Jersey.
The $450 million, station opened on December 15, 2003, and was dedi ...
converge. In 2004, NJT contracted a study to determine the condition of the bridge and to begin long-term planning for its future replacement. In 2009-2010, the bridge underwent $23 million project for maintenance and repairs, funded by the agency and performed by Skanska
Skanska AB () is a multinational construction and development company based in Sweden. Skanska is the fifth-largest construction company in the world according to ''Construction Global'' magazine. Notable Skanska projects include renovation of t ...
.
See also
*Lower Hack Lift
The Lower Hack Lift is a lift bridge carrying the New Jersey Transit Morristown Line across the Hackensack River at mile 3.4, Jersey City, New Jersey.
The massive 3-track lift span was built in 1927–28 by the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Ra ...
*Bergen Tunnels
The Bergen Tunnels are a pair of railroad tunnels with open cuts running parallel to each other under Bergen Hill in Jersey City, New Jersey, U.S. Originally built by the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (DL&W), they are used by New Je ...
*Timeline of Jersey City area railroads
__NOTOC__
For the purposes of this article, the Jersey City area extends North to Edgewater (the Northern end of the line along the Hudson River), South to Bayonne and includes Kearny Junction and Harrison but not Newark. Many routes east o ...
*List of crossings of the Lower Passaic River
The Lower Passaic River in New Jersey is the section of the Passaic River below the Great Falls which flows over the Dundee Dam to the river mouth at Newark Bay in the northeastern part of the state. Its midpoint generally delineates the Es ...
*
* NJT movable bridges
References
External links
*
Passaic River Railroad Bridge
at Bridgehunter.com
William Stickel Memorial Bridge and NJ Transit Railroad Bridge
image by Ronald C. Saari
{{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 = 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, ...
, bridge = Newark Drawbridge
, bridge signs = NJ Transit
New Jersey Transit Corporation, branded as NJ Transit, and often shortened to NJT, is a state-owned public transportation system that serves the U.S. state of New Jersey, along with portions of New York State and Pennsylvania. It operates bu ...
, upstream = William A. Stickel Memorial Bridge
The William A. Stickel Memorial Bridge is a vertical-lift bridge in New Jersey that crosses the Passaic River, connecting Newark and East Newark as part of Interstate 280. The bridge is named in honor of William A. Stickel, a civil engineer ...
, upstream signs =
, downstream = Bridge Street Bridge
, downstream signs =
Bridges completed in 1903
Bridges in Newark, New Jersey
Bridges in Hudson County, New Jersey
Railroad bridges in New Jersey
Swing bridges in the United States
Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad bridges
NJ Transit bridges
Bridges over the Passaic River
Steel bridges in the United States
1903 establishments in New Jersey