Upper Hack Lift

Infobox_Bridge
bridge_name= Upper Hack Lift


caption= Upper Hack Lift from Secaucus bank of Hackensack River
official_name= Upper Hack Bridge
also_known_as= Upper Hackensack Lift, Erie Lift, West Secaucus Bridge
carries= One track of NJ Transit Main Line
crosses= Hackensack River
locale= Secaucus, New Jersey and Lyndhurst, New Jersey
maint= NJ Transit
id=
design= Lift bridge
mainspan= 127 feet
length=
width=
clearance=
below= 8 ft (lowered); 110 ft (raised)
traffic=
open= March 1959

Upper Hack Lift is a lift bridge carrying the New Jersey Transit Main Line across the Hackensack River at mile 6.9 between Secaucus, New Jersey and Lyndhurst.

It was built by the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad in 1958 and completed in March 1959 to serve the Boonton Line and replaced an older swing span from 1901 on the site, which had been damaged by shifting currents. The new single track lift bridge, cost $5,500,000 Taber, Thomas Townsend Townsend and Thomas Townsend Taber III. " The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad in the Twentieth Century"]

Following a 1963 route realignment, Erie Main Line service began using the bridge. It was repainted in 1994 to its current turquoise blue color.

Upper Hack is the only single-track lift bridge in New Jersey. It is visible from motorists on the New Jersey Turnpike's western extension between Interchanges 15W and 16W.

Remnants of the older swing span are visible just to the north of the current lift span, as concrete abutments and piers remain. ( [http://7train.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=782156 1] )

The current drawbridge schedule at Upper Hack (as stated by US Coast Guard, 33 CFR 117.723) allows the bridge to open on signal unless the bridge tender is at the nearby HX Draw on the Bergen County Line ( [http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/11sep20071500/edocket.access.gpo.gov/cfr_2007/julqtr/33cfr117.723.htm 2] )

References

1. Taber, Thomas Townsend and Thomas Townsend Taber III. " The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad in the Twentieth Century", (two volumes) Muncy PA, 1981. 139

External links

* [http://7train.rrpicturearchives.net/archivethumbs.aspx?id=23150 Movable Railroad Bridges of New Jersey-photo catalog]
* [http://www.geocities.com/transit383/bridges.html Movable Railroad Bridges of New Jersey]
* [http://7train.rrpicturearchives.net/archivethumbs.aspx?id=10959 Upper Hack Lift photo gallery]
* [http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/11sep20071500/edocket.access.gpo.gov/cfr_2007/julqtr/33cfr117.723.htm U.S. Government Printing Office: DRAWBRIDGE OPERATION REGULATIONS-Hackensack River (Code of Federal Regulations 33 CFR 117.723)]
* [http://eorthe.com/02a_e_hack/14_lift.htm Erie Lift (Upper Hack) photos and notes]

Crossings navbox
structure = Crossings
place = Hackensack River
bridge = Upper Hack Lift
bridge signs =
upstream = HX Draw
upstream signs =
downstream = DB Draw
downstream signs =