Bayonne Bridge

Infobox_Bridge
bridge_name= Bayonne Bridge


caption= The Bayonne Bridge, as seen from Port Richmond, Staten Island
official_name=
also_known_as=
carries= 4 lanes of NY 440/NJ 440
crosses= Kill Van Kull
locale= Staten Island, New York and Bayonne, New Jersey
maint= Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
id=
design= Steel Arch bridge
mainspan= 1,675 feet (510.54 m)
length= 5,780 feet (1,761.74 m)
width= 85 feet (25.91 m)
clearance=14 feet
below= 151 feet (46.03 m)
traffic= 23,400 [cite web | url=https://www.nysdot.gov/portal/page/portal/divisions/engineering/technical-services/hds-respository/appendixctdr.pdf | accessdate=2007-05-05 | title=2005 NYSDOT Traffic Data Report: AADT Values for Select Toll Facilities]
open= November 15, 1931
closed=
toll= $8.00 (southbound) ($6.00 off-peak E-ZPass)
map_cue=
map_

map_text=
map_width=
coordinates= coord|40.642043|-74.141965|region:US_type:landmark|format=dms|display=inline,title
lat=
long= The Bayonne Bridge is the third longest steel arch bridge in the world, and was the longest in the world at the time of its completion. It connects Bayonne, New Jersey with Staten Island, New York, spanning the Kill Van Kull.

The bridge was designed by 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 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 arch resembles a parabola, but is made up of 40 linear segments.

The design of the steel arch is based on the Hell Gate Bridge designed by Ammann's mentor, Gustav Lindenthal.Fact|date=September 2008 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 on the bridge began in 1928, and eventually cost $13 million. When it opened it 1931, it was the longest steel arch bridge in the world. It was deliberately built seven meters longer than the Sydney Harbour Bridge,Fact|date=September 2008 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 western side of 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 traveling into Staten Island (there is no toll for vehicles traveling into New Jersey). The car toll is $8.00, though discounts are available for E-ZPass subscribers.

In September 2007, the New York City Transit Authority began a limited-stop bus route that crosses the bridge. The route's termini are the Hylan Boulevard bus terminal in Eltingville, Staten Island and the 34th Street Hudson-Bergen Light Rail Station in Bayonne. This is the first interstate bus service offered by the MTA. [ [http://www.mta.info/mta/news/releases/?en=070716 Press Release] , "MTA", July 16, 2007]

In 2003, the bridge carried about 20,000 vehicles per day.

The span presents a difficult obstacle to large container ships passing under it on the way to and from Newark Bay. Its 151-foot height above mean water level means that some of today's ships, which can reach 175 feet above the waterline, must fold down antenna masts or wait for low tide to pass through. The Port Authority is considering modifying its design. [cite web |url=http://www.silive.com/news/advance/index.ssf?/base/news/114882225778800.xml&coll=1 |title=Once-mighty span is now a tight squeeze for ships: inadequate height has become a costly issue for Port Authority |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20070308154930/http://www.silive.com/news/advance/index.ssf?/base/news/114882225778800.xml&coll=1 |archivedate=2007-03-08 |publisher=Staten Island Advance |date=May 28, 2006]

Appearances in popular culture

*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, appearing in the background several times in the scenes that took place in Bayonne. The main character's home was also located near the bridge, which is destroyed in an attack by aliens.

References

ources

* Shanor, Rebecca Read (1995),"The Encyclopedia of New York City", Kenneth T. Jackson, ed. (Yale Univ.Press, New Haven)
* [http://www.hudsonreporter.com/site/index.cfm?newsid=17118972&BRD=1291&PAG=461&dept_id=523584&rfi=8 "Most liquor licenses? Bumpiest town? Local municipalities hold unusual distinctions,"] "Union City Reporter", August 27, 2006.

External links

* [http://www.panynj.gov/CommutingTravel/bridges/html/bayonne.html Port Authority of New York and New Jersey: Bayonne Bridge]
* [http://www.nycroads.com/crossings/bayonne/ Bayonne Bridge (NY 440 and NJ 440)]
*
* [http://bridgepros.com/projects/BayonneBridge/Bayonne.htm Bridgepros: Bayonne Bridge]

Crossings navbox
structure = Bridges
place = Kill Van Kull
bridge = Bayonne Bridge
bridge signs =
upstream = Newark Bay Bridge
upstream signs =
downstream = Verrazano Narrows Bridge
downstream signs =

LongestBridge
type = arch
start = 1931
end = 1977
previous = Hell Gate Bridge
current = Bayonne Bridge
next = New River Gorge Bridge