The William A. Stickel Memorial Bridge is a
vertical-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 ...
in
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 ...
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 from
Newark who served as the Essex County engineer for over 20 years.
The bridge was constructed from 1948 to 1949 as
Route 25A and is owned and operated by 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 ...
. The total length of the structure is , and it provides a clearance of - . The length of the movable section is . The bridge was inaugurated on May 1, 1949 and became part of the interstate system in 1971.
The bridge is one of the few movable bridges that remain in the
Interstate Highway System
The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. T ...
. The bridge remained manned by a drawtender until March 3, 1999. It rarely opens and requires 24-hour notice to NJDOT for opening.
Drawbridge Schedules
/ref> The six-lane Stickel Bridge has four through-traffic lanes and two lanes for traffic entering and exiting Route 21 at Exit 15 just west of the bridge.
Rehabilitation
The April 2001 release of a New Jersey Department of Transportation report labeling the Stickel Bridge "structurally deficient and functionally obsolete" has prompted officials to consider options to either rehabilitate or replace the bridge. Inspectors found both the superstructure and substructure of the old span to be in "poor" condition, the result of wall cracks and severe corrosion of structural steel. Furthermore, the steel-grated roadway, narrow lanes and tight ramps leading to the local streets have contributed to the bridge's high accident rate. As an interim measure, the NJDOT has reduced the speed limit on the bridge to .
In May 2008, the rehabilitation work on the span was completed. Work included having its mechanical systems overhauled, and removal of its old black coating, in favor of a light blue paint.
See also
*
*
*
* 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 ...
References
External links
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*
NYC Roads page for Interstate 280
{{coord, 40.7480, -74.1658, region:US-NJ_type:landmark, display=title
Bridges over the Passaic River
Bridges completed in 1949
Bridges in Hudson County, New Jersey
Stickel
Movable bridges on the Interstate Highway System
Transportation in Newark, New Jersey
Vertical lift bridges in New Jersey
East Newark, New Jersey
Interstate 80
Road bridges in New Jersey
Steel bridges in the United States