Upper Hack Lift is a
lift bridge
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 sw ...
carrying the
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 ...
Main Line across the
Hackensack River
The Hackensack River is a river, approximately 45 miles (72 km) long, in the U.S. states of New York (state), New York and New Jersey, emptying into Newark Bay, a back chamber of New York Harbor. The drainage basin, watershed of the ri ...
at mile 6.9 between
Secaucus, New Jersey and
Lyndhurst.
History
![UpperHackLift](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/Upperhacklift.jpg)
It was built by the
Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad in 1958 and completed in March 1959 to serve the
Boonton Line and replaced an older swing span from 1901 on the site, which had been damaged by shifting currents. The new single-track lift bridge cost $5,500,000,
financed through a five-year bank loan.
Following a 1963 route realignment,
Erie Main Line
The Main Line (or Erie Main Line) is a commuter rail line owned and operated by New Jersey Transit running from Suffern, New York to Hoboken, New Jersey, in the United States. It runs daily commuter service and was once the north–south main ...
service began using the bridge, with Erie Lackawanna, NJDOT and later NJ Transit Main Line commuter service continuing to use the route. It was repainted in 1994 to its current
turquoise blue color.
Upper Hack is the only single-track lift bridge in New Jersey (excluding the
Arthur Kill Vertical Lift Bridge
The Arthur Kill Vertical Lift Railroad Bridge is a rail vertical-lift bridge connecting Elizabethport, New Jersey and the Howland Hook Marine Terminal on Staten Island, New York, United States. The bridge was built by the Baltimore and Ohio Rai ...
connecting to
Staten Island). It is visible to motorists on the
New Jersey Turnpike's western spur between Interchanges 15W and 16W.
Remnants of the older swing span are visible just to the north of the current lift span, as concrete abutments and piers remain.
The current drawbridge schedule at Upper Hack (as stated by U.S. Coast Guard, 33 CFR 117.723) allows the bridge to open on signal unless the bridge tender is at the nearby
HX Draw
The HX Draw is a bascule bridge carrying the New Jersey Transit Bergen County Line and Pascack Valley Line across the Hackensack River between Secaucus, New Jersey and East Rutherford. The bridge is also known as The Jack-Knife because of its un ...
on the
Bergen County Line
The Bergen County Line is a commuter rail line and service owned and operated by New Jersey Transit in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The line loops off the Main Line between the Meadowlands and Glen Rock, with trains continuing in either dir ...
upstream.
[2]
See also
*
List of crossings of the Hackensack River
The Hackensack River courses southward for approximately through Rockland County in New York and Bergen and Hudson counties in northeastern New Jersey, forming the border of the latter two for part of its length. Its source, as identified by ...
*
*
NJT movable bridges
*
Hackensack RiverWalk
Hackensack RiverWalk, also known as the Hackensack River Greenway, a is partially constructed greenway along the Newark Bay and Hackensack River in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. The linear park, which closely follows the contour ...
*
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 of ...
References
External links
Movable Railroad Bridges of New Jersey-photo catalogUpper Hack Lift photo gallery*
ttp://eorthe.com/02a_e_hack/14_lift.htm Erie Lift (Upper Hack) photos and notes
{{New Jersey Transit Rail
Vertical lift bridges in New Jersey
Railroad bridges in New Jersey
Bridges completed in 1959
Bridges over the Hackensack River
Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad bridges
NJ Transit bridges
Secaucus, New Jersey
Lyndhurst, New Jersey
Bridges in Hudson County, New Jersey
Bridges in Bergen County, New Jersey
1959 establishments in New Jersey