Crosses Raritan River Other name(s) River Draw Design Swing bridge Longest span 101 m Location The Amboys Owner NJ Transit | Locale The Amboys, New Jersey ID number NJT 400 Opened 1908 Body of water Raritan River Bridge type Swing bridge | |
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Carries New York and Long Branch (to 1976)
Conrail
North Jersey Coast Line Similar Lyndhurst Draw, WR Draw, Upper Hack Lift, Newark Drawbridge, HX Draw | ||
Nj transit multi level train crosses the raritan bay drawbridge
The Raritan Bay Drawbridge, also known as River Draw, Raritan Bay Swing Bridge, and Raritan River Railroad Bridge, is a railroad swing bridge crossing the Raritan River a half mile from where in empties into the Raritan Bay in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. It connects Perth Amboy to the north and South Amboy to the south.
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History
The bridge was built in 1908 to a replace one that had been built at the crossing in 1875 to serve the New York and Long Branch Railroad, jointly operated by the Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ) and Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR). Soon after its construction the bridge wad damaged in a severe winter storm. The bridge has been owned by several different parties since the CNJ/PRR era: Penn Central (1968–1971), the New Jersey Department of Transportation (to 1983), and New Jersey Transit (NJT).
Operations
The bridge is used by NJT commuter rail on its North Jersey Coast Line and for Conrail-Norfolk Southern 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 drawbridge was scheduled to be replaced after suffering structural damage from Hurricane Sandy 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, which is expected to take 4–5 years while trains continue using the existing bridge.