Bayonne Bridge
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The Bayonne Bridge is the third longest steel arch bridge in the world. It connects Bayonne, New Jersey with Staten Island, New York, spanning the Kill Van Kull.
The bridge was designed by the master bridge-builder Othmar Ammann and the architect Cass Gilbert. It was built by the Port of New York Authority and opened on November 15, 1931. The primary purpose of the bridge was to allow vehicle traffic from Staten Island to reach Manhattan via the Holland Tunnel.
Ammann, the master bridge builder and chief architect of the Port Authority, chose the steel arch design after rejecting a cantilever and suspension design as expensive and impractical for the site.
The eventual design of the bridge called for a graceful parabolic arch that soars 226 feet (69 m) above the Kill Van Kull and supports a road bed for 1,675 feet (511 m) without intermediary piers. The total length of the bridge is 8,640 feet (2,633 m) with a mid-span clearance above the water of 150 feet (46 m).
The design of the steel arch is based on the Hell Gate Bridge designed by Ammann's mentor, Gustav Lindenthal. Gilbert had designed an ornamental granite sheathing over the steelwork as part of the original proposal, but as in the case of the George Washington Bridge, the stone sheathing was eliminated in order to lower the cost of the bridge, leaving the steel trusses exposed.
Construction of the bridge began in 1928. The eventual cost of construction was 13 million dollars. When it opened it 1931, it was the longest steel arch bridge in the world. It is two feet (0.6 m) longer than the Sydney Harbour Bridge, which opened the year after.
The presence of the Bayonne Bridge ultimately led to the discontinuation of the Bergen Point Ferry.
The supported roadway carries two lanes of traffic in each direction. The roadway deck could accommodate an expansion for either two traffic lanes or two light-rail lanes. A pedestrian walkway, cantilevered from the roadway, currently provides the only access by foot to Staten Island. The Port Authority also permits bicycle traffic, however the sidewalk ends abruptly at descending stairs on the New Jersey side. Due to safety concerns, bicycle riders are required to walk their bicycles across the bridge.
Tolls are collected on vehicles travelling into Staten Island (there is no toll for vehicles travelling into New Jersey). The car toll is $6.00, though discounts are available for E-ZPass subscribers.
A proposal is in the works to provide New York City Transit Authority bus service between Bayonne and Staten Island via the bridge; if approved, it would be the first time ever that a New York City bus route actually made stops in New Jersey (certain express bus routes that travel between Staten Island and Manhattan use the New Jersey Turnpike but do not stop anywhere in the state).
As of 2003, the bridge carried approximately 20,000 vehicles per day.
The Port Authority will probably have to replace or raise the bridge within the next few decades, as it increasingly presents an obstacle to large container ships passing under it on the way to and from Newark Bay.
Appearances in Media
- The bridge was featured in the 2001 film A Beautiful Mind.
- The bridge has appeared in the HBO prison drama Oz.
- The bridge was featured in the 2005 science fiction film, War of the Worlds starring Tom Cruise, where it was destroyed in an attack by aliens.
Sources
- Shanor, Rebecca Read (1995),The Encyclopedia of New York City, Kenneth T. Jackson, ed. (Yale Univ.Press, New Haven)
- The Union City Reporter (February 19, 2006) ("Smelliest Town? Most Bumpy? Hudson County Municipalities Hold Unusual Distinctions")
- The Staten Island Advance (May 29, 2006) [("Once mighty span is now a tight squeeze for ships")]
External links
- [Port Authority of New York and New Jersey: Bayonne Bridge]
- [Bayonne Bridge (NY 440 and NJ 440)]
- [Structrae data for the Bayonne Bridge]
- [Bridgepros: Bayonne Bridge]
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