Lincoln Highway Hackensack River Bridge

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Lincoln Highway Bridge

Coordinates	40°43′7.35″N 74°6′14.35″W / 40.7187083°N 74.1039861°W / 40.7187083; -74.1039861
Carries	US Route 1/9 Truck Lincoln Highway East Coast Greenway
Crosses	Hackensack River
Locale	Jersey City and Kearny
Other name(s)	Shawn Carson and Robert Nguyen Memorial Bridge Route 1&9 Lincoln Highway Bridge Rte 1&9 Hackensack River Bridge
Owner	New Jersey Department of Transportation
Characteristics
Design	vertical lift
Material	Steel
Total length	1,480.1 feet (451.1 m)
Width	73.5 feet (22.4 m)
Height	75 feet (23 m)
Longest span	222.1 feet (67.7 m)
Clearance above	16.2 feet (4.9 m)
Clearance below	35 feet (11 m) (mean high water) 40 feet (12 m) (mean low water)
History
Construction start	1951
Construction end	1954
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Location

The Lincoln Highway Hackensack River Bridge is a vehicular moveable bridge crossing the Hackensack River 1.8 mi (2.9 km) from the river mouth at Newark Bay in Hudson County, New Jersey, USA. The vertical lift bridge, along the route of the Lincoln Highway, carries U.S. Route 1/9 Truck and the East Coast Greenway between the West Side of Jersey City and Kearny Point in Kearny. The last of many crossings built at the location, the bridge was completed in 1954. It is owned by and operated by the New Jersey Department of Transportation, and is required by the Code of Federal Regulations to open on signal for maritime traffic. In 2007 it was designated the Shawn Carson and Robert Nguyen Memorial Bridge.

Environs and background

The Lincoln Highway Bridge demarks what are known Droyer's Reach and the Marion Reach of the Hackensack River. Along the east bank of the river Hudson Mall and Droyer's Point lie to the south and Lincoln Park and the Marion Section lie to the north. The west bank at Kearny Point is an industrial and distribution warehouse area which during the first half of the 20th century was site of Federal Shipbuilding . The eastern approach to the bridge is fed by Communipaw Avenue (CR 612) from the east, Route 440 from the south, and Route 1/9 Truck from the north.

In 1765, the Assembly of the Province of New Jersey authorised the construction of a new plank road road connecting the city of Newark to the Hudson Waterfront at Paulus Hook (now Exchange Place in Jersey City). It Incorporated an existing road, now Ferry Street (Newark) to the west bank of the Passaic River and another across the southern tip of New Barbadoes Neck to the Hackensack. From the Hackensack the road travelled eastward over Bergen Hill and connected with another colonial turnpike (later known as Bergen Point Plank Road) at Communipaw Junction in what was then Bergen Township. Ferry service proceeded the construction of the first fixed crossing in the immediate vicinity the current bridge. as was known as Brown's Ferry for the man who operated ferries across the rivers. Built in the early 19th century, the Morris Canal route crossed the rivers parallel to the ferry crossing, and later, the turnpike bridges.

First, fallen and failed bridges

In 1849 a charter was granted by the New Jersey General Assembly to a corporation to upgrade and operate the toll road, which became known as the Newark Plank Road. Soon thereafter, the "Newark Plank Road and Ferry Company" requested and received permission to build bridges over the Hackensack and Passaic, a request contested by some stockholders of the rival "Proprietors of Bridges over the Rivers Passaic and Hackensack", which operated the Newark Turnpike over the rivers and Hackensack Meadows, and maintained a monopoly for bridges had been granted in their 1790s charter. A bridge across the Hackenack was built by 1856, but one across the Passaic was subject of litigation. A survey conducted published in 1865 described the bridge as a wooden half-pivot draw.

Streetcar service along the route of plank road was initiated in 1895 by a predecessor of the Public Service Railway, later becoming part of it's Newark-Jersey City Line (#1). (Today's New Jersey Transit bus service #1 retains the number along the route) A new bridge was constructed in 1906.

During the Good Roads Movement the road and bridges were again re-newed in conjunction with the creation of the Lincoln Highway, the first transcontinental highway in the USA. On December 13, 1913 New Jersey dedicated the new "Lincoln Way" after having spent $1.25 million on a widening and re-paving project in the northeastern part of the state. By the early 1920s the part the route of the Lincoln Highway including the bridges spanning the rivers was among the most heavily-used roads in the United States. A survey conducted in 1920 by county officials counted 11, 000 crossings of the river in a 15-hour period.. In 1921, it was reported that a survey had counted 12,000 crossing in a busy period with 4,011 one-way crossings within an hour.

On June 22, 1922 the 150 feet (46 m) steamship Glenaruel collided with the exisitng bridge, first hitting the bulkhead and then swerving to hit span which had been open to let it pass. The iron structure toppled and was considered irreparable The destroyed structured was replaced in 1927 with a double leaf bascule bridgej. In little more than a years time,on December 15, 1928, that bridge failed, when the east leaf of the bridge the trunnion fell into the river. It was later determined that the design of the was sufficiently capable of bearing loads crossing the roadway, and had led to metal fatigue.

Operations

Construction of the current vertical lift bridge, which opened in 1954, began in 1951. Built of steel and concrete, it is 1,480.1 feet (451.1 m) long, 73.5 feet (22.4 m) tall, and 75 feet (23 m) wide, it opened in 1954. It carries the six lane highway designated U.S. Route 1/9 Truck as well as of the East Coast Greenway. The bridge was rehabilitated in 2003. Repairs to steel work and repainting funded by the, were conducted in 2009-2011. The central span between dual towers of black steel is horizontally raised and lowered by engines and counterweights. The design of the structure recalls the industrial era of America.

The bridge's lift span is 222.1 feet (67.7 m) long.. It and that of the next upstream vehicular moveable bridge (the Wittpenn) are required by federal regulations be raised on demand at all times. The Lower Hackensack River is channelized to MP 3.4 where there is a turning basin. At one time there river was major waterway for in the Port of New York and New Jersey. and remains partially navigable for commercial maritime traffic, notably coal deliveries to the Hudson Generating Station. In 1936, the predecessor to the current bridge is reported to have opened as frequently as 48 times per day. In 2005, the Lincoln Highway Bridge opened 20-30 times per month.

Tragedy and dedication

On Christmas Day, December 25, 2005 two Jersey City police officers died while on duty after their rescue vehicle plunged into the the river from the bridge. Shawn Carson and Robert Nguyen were summoned by colleagues to bring additional flares to the western approach to the bridge to better regulate traffic since extreme weather conditions made for poor visibility and the gate which normally lowers when the bridge is in the open position had been malfunctioning for some time. The officers drove across the bridge and delivered the flares Unbeknownst to them, the lift span had been raised and as they were making their return trip, their vehicle went over the edge of the open bridge. While the body of Carsen was recovered approximately 90 minutes after the accident that of Nuygen was not found until December 29th. After an investigation the bridgetenders were cleared of any wrong doing in January 2006. According to the NJDOT the barrier was experience continuous problems due to an earlier accident and the agency was waiting for replacement equipment to do repairs. Unsatisfied with the agency's findings, the Jersey City Police found that NJDOT, knowing that there were problems should not have relied on local police for public safety. A new barrier gate was eventually installed in June 2006. On May 9, 2007 the New Jersey Legislature adopted a joint resolution designating the crossing the “Shawn Carson and Robert Nguyen Memorial Bridge”

References

"Hackensack River, New Jersey" (PDF). Report of Channel Conditions 100 to 400 Feet Wide (ER 1130-2-306). US Army Corps of Engineers. April 18, 2011. Retrieved 2012-11-11.
"Hudson County 612 straight line diagram" (PDF). New Jersey Department of Transportation. Retrieved 2009-08-15.
"Route 440 straight line diagram" (PDF). New Jersey Department of Transportation. Retrieved 2007-04-09.
"U.S. Route 1-9 Truck straight line diagram" (PDF). New Jersey Department of Transportation. Retrieved 2012-11-11.
Urquhart, Frank J. (1913), A history of the city of Newark, New Jersey : embracing practically two and a half centuries, 1666-1913, vol. 1, Lewis Historical Publishing
^ Rae-Turner, Jean; Koles, Richard T (2001), Newark, Arcadia Publishing, p. 59, ISBN 9780738523521
Robinson, Ph.D., Walter F. (1976), Old Bergen Township (Now Hudson County) in the American Revolution (PDF), Bayonne Bicentennial Committee
Shalhoub, Patrick B (1995), Jersey City, Arcadia Publishing, ISBN 0-7524-0255-2
Goller, Robert R. (1999), Morris Canal: Across New jersey by Water and Rail, Arcadia Publishing, ISBN 9780738500768
Passaic and Hackensack Bridge Company (1855), A plain statement of facts relating to the application of the Newark plank road & ferry co. for a bridge over the Passaic River.
Charles E. Milnor vs. The Newark Plank Road and Ferry Co. & Als (1856), Text.
Report of the Assembly Committee Apointed to Inauire into the Condition of the Bridges over the Passaic and Hackensack Rivers in the Counties of Union, Essex, Hudson (Report). Trenton: New Jersey Assembly. 1865.
"North Jersey Stret Railway". NJT/Public Service Line. Retrieved 2012-11-11.
"Newark-Newark Express" (PDF). Schedule 1 & 361. New Jersey Transit. September 1, 2012. Retrieved 2012-11-11.
^ "Ship Smashes Bridge over Hackensack", The New York Times, June 23, 1922, retrieved 2012-11-11
KSK Architects Historians Planners (January 2011). "Highway Era". New Jersey Historic Roadway Survey (PDF) (Report). New Jersey Department of Transportation. p. 99.
"A Famous Highway Old Plank Road in New Jersey Established in 1765", The New York Times, July 26, 1914, retrieved 2012-11-09
^ Sheweber, Nate (December 27, 2005), "A Design From an Earlier, Steel-Heavy Era", The New York Times, retrieved 2012-11-09
"How the 'Lincoln Way' Project Now Stands". The New York Times. April 5, 1914. Retrieved 2012-11-11.
^ "Yielding Auto Barrier", The New York Times, November 20, 1921, retrieved 2012-11-10
Bement, AF (January 4, 1920), "Heaviest Auto Travel on Lincoln Highway", The New York Times, retrieved 2012-11-11
"Lincoln Highway Bascule Drops into River" (PDF). Engineering News-Record. December 20, 1928. Retrieved 2012-11-11.
^ "Hackensack River Bridge Hudson County, New Jersey". Bridgehunter. Retrieved 2012-11-11.
New Bike Path Connects Jersey By Daniel Reyes/The Jersey Journal, 25 June 2012
"Hackensack River Bridge". Ugly Bridges. Retrieved 2012-11-11.
http://www.state.nj.us/transportation/capital/stimulus/pdf/FHWA1586submission.pdf
"Drawbridge Schedules". NJDOT. April 12, 2012. Retrieved 2012-11-05.
"117.723 Hackensack River", Title 33: Navigation and Navigable Waters Part 117—Drawbridge Operations Regulations, US Government Printing Office, October 20, 2012 {{citation}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
Newark Bay, Hackensack and Passaic Rivers – Hackensack River, New Jersey (PDF). Report of Channel Conditions 100 to 400 Feet Wide (ER 1130-2-306) (Report). April 18, 2011. Retrieved 2012-10-21.
^ Olsen, Kevin K. (2008), A Great Conveniency A Maritime History of the Passaic River, Hackensack River, and Newark Bay, American History Imprints, ISBN 9780975366776
"The Hackesack River:A True Come-Back Story". Hackensack Riverkeeper. Retrieved 2012-11-11.
Sheenan, Bill (Winter 2006). "The Truth About Traffic On The River". At the helm: a word from Captain Bill. Hackensack Riverkeeper. Retrieved 2012-11-01.
Wisloski, Jess; Lisberg, Adam (December 27, 2005), ""Everything' led to horror on N.j. span", Daily News
Gettleman, Jeffrey (December 27, 2005). "Many Factors Adding Up to Deadly Scene on foggy Bridge". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-11-11.
Schweber, Nate; Newman, Maria (December 29, 2005). "Divers Find Body of Jersey City Officer". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-11-11.
Gettleman, Jeffrey (January 28, 2006). "Bridge Operators Cleared in Plunge That Killed 2". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-11-11.
Gettleman, Jeffrey (February 11, 2006). "Police Chief Places Blame For Deaths of Two Officers". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-11-11.
"NJDOT to close Route 1 & 9 Hackensack Bridge this weekend" (Press release). NJDOT. June 8, 2006. Retrieved 2012-11-11.
"Joint Resolution No. 7 (designating the Lincoln Highway Bridge over the Hackensack River as the "Shawn Carson and Robert Nguyen Memorial Bridge.")" (PDF). New Jersey Legislature. May 8, 2007. Retrieved 2012-11-11.

External links

jag9889 (28 Jul 2005 to 11 Sep 2008.). "Lincoln Highway Bfridge over Hackensack River". Flickr. Retrieved 2012-11-11. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

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