Point-No-Point Bridge

Point-No-Point Bridge is a railroad bridge crossing the Passaic River between Newark and Kearny, New Jersey, United States, in the New Jersey Meadowlands. The swing bridge is the fourth from the river's mouth at Newark Bay and is 2.6 miles (4.2 km) upstream from it.[1] A camelback through truss bridge, it is owned by Conrail as part of its North Jersey Shared Assets and carries the Passaic and Harsimus Line used by CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern.[2] River Subdivision (CSX Transportation) accesses the line via Marion Junction. Conrail is considering replacing the bridge, which was opened in 1901.[3]

Point-No-Point Bridge
Coordinates40°44′29″N 74°07′17″W
CarriesPassaic and Harsimus Line
CrossesPassaic River
LocaleNewark and Kearny
New Jersey
OwnerConrail
Characteristics
DesignSwing bridge
Clearance below21 feet (6.4 m)[1]
History
Construction end1901
Location

A crossing of the Passaic at Point-No-Point was originally built by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) in the early 1890s[4] to bypass its mainline and thus shorten the distance to its rail yard at Harsimus Cove.[5] At the time the railroad crossed the Passaic at the Centre Street Bridge (no longer in existence) near its Newark station, at the site of today's New Jersey Performing Arts Center. The new Pennsylvania Cut-off diverged from the line (now today's Northeast Corridor) at Waverly Yard, crossed the Newark Ironbound and the Passaic to the Kearny Meadows and then crossed the Hackensack River on the Harsimus Branch Lift Bridge. It rejoined the main line at the Bergen Hill Cut, but diverged again using the Harsimus Stem Embankment to reach its freight yards on the Hudson River waterfront north of its passenger terminal at Exchange Place. The PRR also used the Lehigh Valley Railroad Bridge to reach its car float operations at Greenville Yard on the Upper New York Bay.[4]

The Point-No-Point Bridge's creosote-covered piers caught fire in 2000.[6]

The lower 17 miles (27 km) of the 90-mile-long (140 km) Passaic River below the Dundee Dam is tidally influenced and navigable commercial maritime traffic upstream of the Point-No-Point Bridge is constricted by the width between its piers when the moveable span is open.[1] Rules regulating the drawbridge operations determined by the US Coast Guard require 4 hours' notice for it to be swung open.[7]

The bridge (at left) crosses the Passaic between the Kearny Meadows and the industrial area of the Newark Ironbound parallel to the New Jersey Turnpike

See also

References
  1. "Lower Passaic River Restoration Project Commercial Navigation Analysis (2nd Revision)" (PDF). United States Army Corps of Engineers. July 2, 2010. Retrieved 2012-08-05.
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-10-24. Retrieved 2016-10-24.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. Kofsky, Jared (2 October 2018). "Point-No-Point Railroad Bridge from 1901 Could Be Replaced".
  4. "Two Small roads being Built in New-Jersey Important Extensions of the Pennsylvania Railroad to Relieve Overtaxed Jersey City Terminals" (PDF), The New York Times, July 1, 1891, retrieved 2012-08-08
  5. "Work on the Pennsylvania Cut-off" (PDF), The New York Times, May 12, 1900, retrieved 2012-08-07
  6. Hanley, Robert (15 July 2000). "Bridge on Passaic River Burns, Filling Sky With Thick Smoke" – via NYTimes.com.
  7. "33 CFR 117.739 - Passaic River". Code of Federal Regulations. Coast Guard, Department of Homeland Security. July 1, 2010. Archived from the original on August 12, 2014. Retrieved 2012-08-07. The draw of CONRAIL's Point-No-Point Railroad Bridge, mile 2.6, at Newark, shall open on signal if at least four hours' notice is given to the CONRAIL Movement Desk. After the signal to open is given, the opening may be delayed no more than ten minutes
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