The Arthur Kill Vertical Lift Bridge is a rail

vertical-lift bridge A vertical-lift bridge or just lift bridge is a type of movable bridge in which a span rises vertically while remaining parallel with the deck. The vertical lift offers several benefits over other movable bridges such as the bascule and swi ...

connecting Elizabethport, New Jersey, and the

Howland Hook Marine Terminal The Howland Hook Marine Terminal, operating as Port Liberty New York, is a container port facility in the Port of New York and New Jersey located at Howland Hook in northwestern Staten Island, New York City. It is situated on the east side of ...

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is the southernmost of the boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County and situated at the southernmost point of New York (state), New York. The borough is separated from the ad ...

, New York, United States. The bridge was built by the

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the oldest railroads in North America, oldest railroad in the United States and the first steam engine, steam-operated common carrier. Construction of the line began in 1828, and it operated as B&O from 1830 ...

in 1959 to replace the Arthur Kill Bridge, a swing bridge opened in 1890. It contains a single track that is used mainly to carry garbage out of

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, as well as to transport freight to destinations in western Staten Island. The bridge parallels the

Goethals Bridge The Goethals Bridge () is a pair of cable-stayed bridge spans connecting Elizabeth, New Jersey, to Staten Island, New York, United States. The spans cross a strait known as Arthur Kill, and replaced a cantilever bridge span built in 1928. Th ...

, which carries

Interstate 278 Interstate 278 (I-278) is an List of auxiliary Interstate Highways, auxiliary Interstate Highway in New Jersey and New York (state), New York in the United States. The road runs from U.S. Route 1/9, US Route 1/9 (US 1/9) i ...

. It has the longest lift span of any

in the world, with two towers and a truss span that allows a channel. It clears mean high water by when closed and when lifted.

First period of use

After the bridge opened in 1959 upon having replaced the Arthur Kill Bridge, rail traffic declined due to loss of manufacturing facilities on Staten Island.

Bethlehem Steel The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American steelmaking company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Until its closure in 2003, it was one of the world's largest steel-producing and shipbuilding companies. At the height of its success ...

closed in 1960, U.S. Gypsum in 1972, U.S. Lines-

in 1986, and

Procter and Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/cons ...

in 1991. A shift to truck traffic also reduced rail traffic over the bridge, and the North Shore branch of rail service went through a series of owners. The three companies that owned the North Branch were

B&O Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the oldest railroad in the United States and the first steam-operated common carrier. Construction of the line began in 1828, and it operated as B&O from 1830 until 1987, when it was merged into the Chessie ...

CSX CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Railroad classes, Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of trac ...

, and the

Delaware Otsego Corporation The Delaware Otsego Corporation (DO) is an American railroad holding company that is headquartered in Cooperstown, New York. The company was established in 1965 as the Delaware Otsego Railroad by Walter G. Rich, and they began to specialize in r ...

. They saw the bridge as excess property. The last freight train went over the Arthur Kill Lift Bridge in 1990, and North Shore branch service ceased to operate until 2007.

Second period of use

In 1994, the

New York City Economic Development Corporation New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) is a public-benefit corporation that serves as the official economic development organization for New York City. NYCEDC gives its mission as strengthening business confidence in New York C ...

(NYCEDC) purchased the Arthur Kill Railroad Lift Bridge and the North Shore branch from

. In December 2004, NYCEDC and the

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, (PANYNJ; stylized, in logo since 2020, as Port Authority NY NJ) is a joint venture between the U.S. states of New York (state), New York and New Jersey, established in 1921 through an interstate c ...

announced a $72 million project to rehabilitate the bridge and reactivate freight rail service on

. Repairs included repainting the steel and rehabilitating the lift mechanism. The bridge was painted

royal blue Royal blue is a deep and vivid shade of blue. It is said to have been created by a consortium of mills in Rode, Wiltshire (in Somerset as of 1937), which won a competition to make a robe for Queen Charlotte, consort of King George III. I ...

in an homage to the B&O.The

color was a thematic element of much of the B&O. It was used as the name of the premier

Royal Blue (train) The ''Royal Blue'' was the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O)'s flagship passenger train between New York City and Washington, D.C., in the United States, beginning in 1890. The Baltimore-based B&O also used the n ...

service between Washington and New York for example. The rehabilitation project was completed in June 2006. On October 4, 2006, a train crossed the bridge for the first time in 16 years. It was a single locomotive which took on switching duties at the New York Container Terminal, also known by its old name, Howland Hook. On April 2, 2007, normal operations involving garbage removal from the Staten Island Transfer Station started, which would result in an estimated 90,000 annual truck loads diverted from the nearby

. On October 4, 2007, New York Container Terminal, which operates Howland Hook, announced the opening of on-dock rail service called

ExpressRail ExpressRail is a network of on- or near-dock rail yards supporting intermodal freight transport at the major container terminals of the Port of New York and New Jersey. The development of dockside trackage and rail yards for transloading has bee ...

via the bridge, with regular service by

Conrail Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do busine ...

(CRCX), CSX and Norfolk Southern railroads. In 2013,

Reworld Reworld, formerly Covanta (legal name; Reworld Holding Corporation), is a private energy-from-waste and industrial waste management services company headquartered in Morristown, New Jersey. Most of its revenue comes from operating incineratio ...

signed a contract with the New York City Sanitation Department to barge containers of solid waste from transfer stations in Queens and Manhattan to New York Container Terminal where they will be transferred to rail cars for shipment to Covanta waste to energy plants. Arthur Kill is a ship channel. The bridge is normally kept in the raised position (open to shipping), lowering to allow the passage of trains. As of 2018, U.S. Coast Guard regulations33 CFR 117.702 Arthur Kill
/ref> limit lowering the bridge to two 15-minute periods per day, with advance warning and restrictions on lowering during high tide. Conrail, which services Staten Island with one train a day, has stated that they do not see this limitation affecting current rail traffic levels, but it could become a problem if traffic increases significantly

Image gallery

File:Arthur Kill Lift Bridge view of tracks.jpg, View of the track. File:Arthur Kill Lift Bridge jeh.jpg

References

External links

Arthur Kill Railroad Lift Bridge
at NYCRoads.com * * {{Staten Island Rapid Transit Operating Authority Baltimore and Ohio Railroad bridges Bridges completed in 1959 Bridges in Staten Island CSX Transportation bridges Rail freight transportation in New York City Railroad bridges in New Jersey Railroad bridges in New York City Staten Island Railway Transportation in Elizabeth, New Jersey Vertical lift bridges in New Jersey Vertical lift bridges in New York City Buildings and structures in Elizabeth, New Jersey Steel bridges in the United States Bridges in Union County, New Jersey 1959 establishments in New Jersey 1959 establishments in New York City

First period of use

Second period of use

Image gallery

See also

References

External links