Carries 8th Street Opened 1915 | ID number 1600004 Total length 86 m Bridge type Bascule bridge Architect Joseph Strauss | |
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Similar Bascule bridge, Clay Street Bridge, Jackson Street Bridge, Dundee Canal, Point‑No‑Point Bridge | ||
Eighth Street Bridge is a road bridge over the Passaic River between 8th Street in Passaic and Main Avenue in Wallington in northeastern New Jersey, United States. Opened in 1915, it is jointly owned and operated by Passaic County and Bergen County and as of 2014 was used by about 6,500 vehicles per day. Originally a moveable bridge, it has been in fixed closed position since 1977. Funding is place for Its replacement.
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Location and operations
Eighth Street Bridge passes over the Passaic 11.7 miles from the river mouth at Newark Bay in at the Passaic and Bergen county line. It carries a 2-lane road, 2 sidewalks, and a utility pipe from 8th Street in Passaic to Main Avenue in Wallington. and as of 2014, is used by about 6,500 vehicles per day.
The lower 17 miles (27 km) of the 90-mile-long (140 km) Passaic River downstream of the Dundee Dam is tidally influenced and channelized. Once one of the most heavily used waterways in the Port of New York and New Jersey, it remains partially navigable for commercial marine traffic. The bridge has been in fixed closed position since 1977 and only bridge at MP 11.7 and those downstream from it are required by federal regulations to open.
Design and construction
Built in 1914, the Eight Street Bridge is a Warren pony truss bridge, originally a bascule bridge. The total length 282 feet (86 m) with a deck width 32.2 feet (9.8 m). The length of largest span: 85 feet (26 m) It follows the design of Strauss Bascule Bridge Company of Chicago and was fabricated by the F.R. Long - W.G. Broadhurst Company of hackensack. The main span was a 85 feet (26 m) long is a Strauss articulated overhead counterweight single leaf bascule span. The entire bridge is supported on a concrete substructure. It originally was composed of built-up members as were the trunnion columns, braced counterweight tower, and counterweight linkages that permitted the counterweight to pivot and move parallel to itself during operation of the bridge.
The bridge was significantly rehabilitated 1965, when a steel grid deck was installed. Between 1976 and 1979 the bridgeman's shanty was demolished and operating controls for the electric-motor powered span were removed and the bridge was fixed in the closed position. The gear sets and shafts were left in place as was the chain-operated manual operation. The original metal sidewalk railings are intact. The 300-ton counterweight, used to open the bridge, began to crumble onto passing cars and had to be removed.
The State Historic Preservation Office determined in that Eighth Street Bridge was of historical and engineering merit to be included in the state (ID#3426)) and federal register of historic places.
Replacement
The bridge has seriously deteriorated and as of 2015 was in a state of severe disrepair and considered to be structurally deficient and fracture critical. There are 13 ton, 19 ton and 30 ton weight restrictions. Plans to replace the bridge have been in place since 2012. Funding is provided by state and federal sources. Land acquisition of parcels in the vicinity of the bridge has been mired in legal eminent domain battles have hampered replacement.