The Raritan Bay Drawbridge, also known as River-Draw, Raritan Bay Swing Bridge, and Raritan River Railroad Bridge, is a railroad

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 ...

crossing the

Raritan River Raritan River is a major river of New Jersey. Its watershed drains much of the mountainous area of the central part of the state, emptying into the Raritan Bay on the Atlantic Ocean. History Geologists assert that the lower Raritan provided t ...

from where it empties into the

Raritan Bay Raritan Bay is a bay located at the southern portion of Lower New York Bay between the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey and is part of the New York Bight. The bay is bounded on the northwest by New York's Staten Island, on the west by Per ...

in Middlesex County,

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 ...

, United States. It connects

Perth Amboy Perth Amboy is a city in Middlesex County, New Jersey. Perth Amboy is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 55,436. Perth Amboy has a Hispanic majority population. In the 2010 census, th ...

to the north and

South Amboy South Amboy is a suburban city in Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, located on Raritan Bay. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city's population was 9,411.New York and Long Branch Railroad The New York and Long Branch Railroad was a railroad in central New Jersey, running from Bay Head Junction in Bay Head to Perth Amboy, where it connected to the Central Railroad of New Jersey's Perth Amboy and Elizabethport Railroad. The rail ...

, jointly operated by the

Central Railroad of New Jersey The Central Railroad of New Jersey, also known as the Jersey Central or Jersey Central Lines , was a Class I railroad with origins in the 1830s. It was absorbed into Conrail in April 1976 along with several other prominent bankrupt railroads of ...

(CNJ) and Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR). Near the end of its construction, the bridge was sabotaged by a dynamite blast. A few years after completion, the bridge was damaged in a severe winter storm. The bridge has been owned by several different parties since the CNJ/PRR era:

Penn Central The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976. Penn Central combined three traditional corporate rivals (the Pennsylvania, New York Central and the ...

(1968–1971), the

New Jersey Department of Transportation The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) is the agency responsible for transportation issues and policy in New Jersey, including maintaining and operating the state's highway and public road system, planning and developing transporta ...

(to 1983), and

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 ...

(NJT).

Operations

The bridge is used by NJT commuter rail on its

North Jersey Coast Line The North Jersey Coast Line is a commuter rail line running from Rahway to Bay Head, New Jersey, traversing through the Jersey Shore region. Operated by New Jersey Transit, the line is electrified as far south as Long Branch. On rail system m ...

and for Conrail-

Norfolk Southern The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31, ...

rail freight operations. Federal regulations require the bridge to be open on signal except during rush hour or when a train has passed the home signal for it.

Replacement

The bridge was scheduled to be replaced after suffering structural damage from

Hurricane Sandy Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as ''Superstorm Sandy'') was an extremely destructive and strong Atlantic hurricane, as well as the largest Atlantic hurricane on record as measured by diameter, with tropical-storm-force winds spann ...

in 2012. The bridge was overwashed by the storm surge, struck by two tugboats, and had to be realigned before low-speed service could resume a month later. A $446 million federal grant, announced in 2014, will fund construction of a new bridge while trains continue using the existing bridge. A groundbreaking ceremony was held September 15, 2020, with completion projected for 2026.

References

External links

Photograph of Raritan Bay Drawbridge
from RailPictures.net
Photograph of Raritan Bay Drawbridge
from RailPictures.net
Photograph of Raritan Bay Drawbridge
from RailPictures.net
Video of towboat and barge transiting the Raritan River Railroad Bridge (pilothouse perspective)
Railroad bridges in New Jersey Bridges over the Raritan River Pennsylvania Railroad bridges Perth Amboy, New Jersey South Amboy, New Jersey Swing bridges in the United States Bridges in Middlesex County, New Jersey Bridges in Monmouth County, New Jersey Bridges completed in 1908 1908 establishments in New Jersey NJ Transit bridges Steel bridges in the United States {{NewJersey-bridge-struct-stub

Operations

Replacement

See also

References

External links