The Bayonne Bridge is an
arch bridge
An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its structural load, loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either si ...
that spans the
Kill Van Kull
__NOTOC__
The Kill Van Kull is a tidal strait between Staten Island, New York (state), New York, and Bayonne, New Jersey, Bayonne, New Jersey, in the United States. It is approximately long and wide and connects Newark Bay with Upper New York ...
between
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, and
Bayonne
Bayonne () is a city in southwestern France near the France–Spain border, Spanish border. It is a communes of France, commune and one of two subprefectures in France, subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques departments of France, departm ...
,
New Jersey
New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
, United States. It carries
New York State Route 440 and
New Jersey Route 440, with the two roads connecting at the state border at the river’s center. It has the
sixth-longest steel arch mainspan in the world, the longest in the world at the time of its completion. The bridge is also one of four connecting New Jersey with Staten Island; the other two roadway bridges are the
Goethals Bridge in
Elizabeth and
Outerbridge Crossing (which also carries Route 440) in
Perth Amboy, and the rail-only span is the
Arthur Kill Vertical Lift Bridge, all of which cross the
Arthur Kill.
The original four-lane roadway was designed for 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 ...
by Swiss master bridge-builder
Othmar Ammann
Othmar Hermann Ammann (March 26, 1879 – September 22, 1965) was a Swiss-American civil engineer whose bridge designs include the George Washington Bridge, Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, and Bayonne Bridge. He also directed the planning and const ...
and architect
Cass Gilbert
Cass Gilbert (November 24, 1859 – May 17, 1934) was an American architect. An early proponent of Early skyscrapers, skyscrapers, his works include the Woolworth Building, the United States Supreme Court building, the state capitols of Minneso ...
. Completed in 1931, it included a walkway, and offered of vertical clearance above the water.
A Port Authority project to provide increased clearance required to accommodate
New Panamax ships began in 2013, raising it approximately to by June 8, 2017. The new roadways opened on May 24, 2019, with each carrying two lanes of unidirectional motor traffic plus shoulders for disabled vehicles, in addition to a separate path for pedestrians and bicyclists.
Design
Bayonne Bridge was designed by Swiss master bridge-builder
Othmar Ammann
Othmar Hermann Ammann (March 26, 1879 – September 22, 1965) was a Swiss-American civil engineer whose bridge designs include the George Washington Bridge, Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, and Bayonne Bridge. He also directed the planning and const ...
and architect
Cass Gilbert
Cass Gilbert (November 24, 1859 – May 17, 1934) was an American architect. An early proponent of Early skyscrapers, skyscrapers, his works include the Woolworth Building, the United States Supreme Court building, the state capitols of Minneso ...
. It spans the
Kill Van Kull
__NOTOC__
The Kill Van Kull is a tidal strait between Staten Island, New York (state), New York, and Bayonne, New Jersey, Bayonne, New Jersey, in the United States. It is approximately long and wide and connects Newark Bay with Upper New York ...
between
Port Richmond in
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, and
Bayonne
Bayonne () is a city in southwestern France near the France–Spain border, Spanish border. It is a communes of France, commune and one of two subprefectures in France, subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques departments of France, departm ...
in
Hudson County, New Jersey
Hudson County is a county in the U.S. state of New Jersey, its smallest and most densely populated. Lying in the northeast of the state and on the west bank of the Hudson River, the North Jersey county is part of the state's Gateway Region an ...
.
The bridge was constructed at a 58-degree angle to the Kill Van Kull, parallel to the street networks of both Bayonne and
Port Richmond, Staten Island, requiring a longer span than if the bridge had been built perpendicular to the straight.
The total length of the bridge is .
Roadbed
As built, the Bayonne Bridge contained a roadbed long without intermediary
piers. The main span was connected to viaducts at either end.
The Port Richmond viaduct was long and the Bayonne viaduct was long, supported by piers that ranged from tall.
The bridge originally featured a mid-span clearance above the water of , adequate for the
United States Navy's tallest ships at the time.
The roadway was wide.
Between 2013 and 2019, the bridge's clearance was raised approximately , from . A new roadway was constructed above the existing roadway within the current arch structure. This new clearance was to accommodate
Post-Panamax ships.
Arch
The Bayonne Bridge's steel
parabolic arch is made up of 40 linear segments. Its lower chord rises above the Kill Van Kull, while the upper is above the waterway.
The arch is influenced by the
Hell Gate Bridge in New York City, designed by Ammann's mentor
Gustav Lindenthal. Gilbert had specified an ornamental
granite
Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...
sheathing over the steelwork as part of the original proposal, but as in the case of the
George Washington Bridge
The George Washington Bridge is a double-decked suspension bridge spanning the Hudson River, connecting Fort Lee in Bergen County, New Jersey, with the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It is named after George W ...
, the stone was eliminated in order to lower the cost of the bridge during the
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
.
It was the first bridge to employ
manganese steel for the main arch ribs and rivets.
When completed in 1931, the Bayonne Bridge was the longest
through arch bridge in the world.
It surpassed the
Sydney Harbour Bridge
The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, spanning Port Jackson, Sydney Harbour from the Sydney central business district, central business district (CBD) to the North Shore (Sydney), North ...
, its more massive-arched "sister bridge" in Australia, by
and took the distinction from the
Hell Gate Bridge.
The Bayonne Bridge has a lightweight design, weighing only , compared to the Sydney Harbour Bridge's . The Bayonne Bridge is also half as wide and longer overall than its sister bridge.
History
Early history and construction
Conceptualization and background

In 1921, the Port of New York Authority (now 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 ...
) was created to oversee transportation in the
Port of New York and New Jersey
The Port of New York and New Jersey is the port district of the New York metropolitan area, New York-Newark metropolitan area, encompassing the region within approximately a radius of the Statue of Liberty National Monument.
It includes the sy ...
.
[ At the time, bridges in New York City were being built at a brisk pace.][ The Port Authority opened its first two bridges between New Jersey and Staten Island in 1928: the Goethals Bridge and the Outerbridge Crossing. A third crossing was being planned between Port Richmond and Bayonne. All three bridges were built to complement the traffic from a future fourth bridge or a tunnel from Staten Island to ]Brooklyn
Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
.[ Initially, the third crossing was proposed to be a tunnel. However, the Port Authority ultimately decided to construct a bridge, to be designed by Ammann and Gilbert. Ammann, who was chief architect of the Port Authority, chose the steel arch design after rejecting a ]cantilever
A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is unsupported at one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a cantilev ...
and suspension design as expensive and impractical for the site, given a requirement by the Port Authority that the bridge must be able to accommodate the future addition of rapid transit
Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT) or heavy rail, commonly referred to as metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport that is generally built in urban areas. A grade separation, grade separated rapid transit line below ground su ...
tracks.
Construction
Construction on the bridge began in 1928. At the time, it was supposed to be open in early 1932 and was supposed to cost $16 million (), but it ended up costing only $13 million to build (). The bridge had to be built without blocking shipping traffic on the Kill Van Kull. To do this, engineers used hydraulic jacks to support the two sides of the arch while the two pieces, consisting of prefabricated truss segments that were made up of high-strength alloy steel, were being built toward a point in a middle. Afterward, prefabricated pieces of the roadway's support structure were hung from cables connected to the arch.[
]
Opening and 20th century
1930s to 1960s
The Bayonne Bridge opened on November 15, 1931, after dedication ceremonies were held the previous day. On opening day, about 7,000 pedestrians and 17,000 vehicles crossed the bridge.[ The new crossing was expected to reduce Staten Islanders' average commutes by 18 to 20 minutes, reducing the need to use the Goethals Bridge or Outerbridge Crossing.] The Bayonne Bridge's dedication ceremony was attended by David M. Dow, the Secretary for Australia in the United States, and the same pair of golden shears used to cut the ribbon was sent to Australia for the ribbon-cutting of the Sydney Harbour Bridge
The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, spanning Port Jackson, Sydney Harbour from the Sydney central business district, central business district (CBD) to the North Shore (Sydney), North ...
four months later. After the ceremony in Sydney, the scissor blades were separated and one was sent back to the Port Authority. ''Time
Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' referred to the symmetric detail of the bridge as "impressive and haunting", while the commune of Bayonne
Bayonne () is a city in southwestern France near the France–Spain border, Spanish border. It is a communes of France, commune and one of two subprefectures in France, subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques departments of France, departm ...
in France sent a congratulatory telegram. The American Institute for Steel Construction selected the Bayonne Bridge as the "Most Beautiful Steel Bridge" in 1931, choosing it over the George Washington Bridge. The bridge was designed with space for railroad tracks, but these were never built.
Pedestrians were originally required to pay a toll. This practice was eliminated in 1940, at which point the operator booths for collecting it were demolished. The Bergen Point Ferry, which paralleled the bridge, stayed in service until 1961.
Between 1939 and 1942, during World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, the space under the Bayonne Bridge's Staten Island approach became the Archer Daniels Midland
The Archer-Daniels-Midland Company, commonly known as ADM, is an American multinational food processing and commodities trading corporation founded in 1902 and headquartered in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois. The company operates more than 270 p ...
Manhattan Project Storage Site, utilized for storing uranium
Uranium is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Ura ...
. The material was used in the nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission or atomic bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear weapon), producing a nuclear exp ...
s developed during the Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a research and development program undertaken during World War II to produce the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States in collaboration with the United Kingdom and Canada.
From 1942 to 1946, the ...
, and about 2,007 barrels weighing were stored under the bridge. Due to the long half-life Half-life is a mathematical and scientific description of exponential or gradual decay.
Half-life, half life or halflife may also refer to:
Film
* Half-Life (film), ''Half-Life'' (film), a 2008 independent film by Jennifer Phang
* ''Half Life: ...
and high radioactivity
Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is conside ...
of unrefined uranium ore, the site became highly polluted and was later designated a federal Superfund
Superfund is a United States federal environmental remediation program established by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). The program is administered by the United States Environmental Pro ...
site. Cleanup by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was scheduled for completion by the end of 2023.
The tollbooth was re-landscaped in a beautification project conducted in 1951 by the Port Authority and the City of Bayonne. In 1956, some land under the New Jersey approach viaduct was set aside to create the Juliette Street Playground. A new toll plaza in Staten Island was created in 1964. Additionally, the bridge deck was widened. In 1966, the Staten Island toll plaza was altered significantly, replacing the original toll booths with six modern toll booths along with and widening the viaduct near the toll plaza. The project also made electrical modifications and installed new lighting.
1970s to 1990s
The toll plaza stopped collecting tolls from New Jersey-bound drivers in 1970, with three of the toll booths being demolished. From this point on, tolls would only be collected from vehicles entering Staten Island and leaving Bayonne. To save energy during the 1973 oil crisis
In October 1973, the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) announced that it was implementing a total oil embargo against countries that had supported Israel at any point during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, which began after Eg ...
, the decorative lighting across the arch span was shut off temporarily that year. The bridge became a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1985.
On October 2, 1990, heavy truck traffic was temporarily banned after a crane being towed by a tugboat struck the center span. The bridge reopened two days later, with traffic reduced to one lane to allow the bridge to undergo emergency repairs. On October 12, 1991, the bridge was closed for inspection and repair after a container ship
A container ship (also called boxship or spelled containership) is a cargo ship that carries all of its load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. Container ships are a common means of commercial intermodal ...
s loading boom damaged five of the arches' stringer beams.
In 1995, a CCTV
Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of closed-circuit television cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signa ...
security system with 24/7 cameras were installed along the walkway to monitor and prevent self harm. Additionally. new lighting was installed on the plazas and approaches, and improvements were made to the Morningstar Road off-ramp under a separate contract. The bridge began accepting E-ZPass in June 1997, making it the first PANYNJ bridge to start accepting the system. In 1999, the bridge was extensively rehabilitated. The roadway pavement was removed, the concrete deck, expansion joints and scuppers of both approaches were replaced, the concrete deck, joints and scuppers of the central span were repaired and a latex modified concrete pavement was laid on the roadway. The superstructure steel members and concrete piers of the entire bridge were also repaired. Later that same year, permanent maintenance and construction platforms were built beneath the roadway and the approaches to allow for easier inspection.
21st century
In 2001, various improvements were made to the CCTV system, and new navigational lights and aviation lights were installed. Additionally, most of the street lamps were replaced, and the structurally deficient New Jersey abutment was extensively rehabilitated.
Late 2000s and early 2010s: Plans for roadbed raising
In the late 2000s, the Port Authority began to plan a project to allow larger container ships to use the Kill Van Kull. The expansion of the Panama Canal
The Panama Canal () is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. It cuts across the narrowest point of the Isthmus of Panama, and is a Channel (geography), conduit for maritime trade between th ...
was announced to allow new contemporary ships coming from Asia to reach the East Coast, but the bridge was too low for these larger ships to pass under it on the way to and from Newark Bay. Its clearance of between above the Kill Van Kull depending on the tide already meant that some contemporary ships, which could reach above the waterline, had to fold down antenna masts, take on ballast
Ballast is dense material used as a weight to provide stability to a vehicle or structure. Ballast, other than cargo, may be placed in a vehicle, often a ship or the gondola of a balloon or airship, to provide stability. A compartment within ...
, or wait for low tide to pass through. New, larger New Panamax ships made things worse. If the problem were not fixed, the Port of New York and New Jersey could have lost significant shipping business to other ports such as Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...
. In August 2009, the Port Authority started a planning analysis to determine how to fix the air draft problem. Final construction in the raise the road project was completed in May 2019 with the opening of the new higher pedestrian and bicycle path. Additionally, the New Jersey abutment was structurally deficient, and the bridge was functionally obsolete.
The Port Authority commissioned the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (CoE) to conduct a study of the question, which was completed in 2009, and authorized up to $10 million for planning and engineering services to develop options to deal with the bridge's low clearance. The CoE study looked at three options for the bridge, besides the no-build option. The quickest option they identified, and the one ultimately chosen, was a $1.7 billion project to raise the bridge's roadway to increase its height by 40 percent, which could be accomplished by 2019 at the earliest. It would need a clearance of to handle the new ships. Another option presented was to build a new cable-stayed bridge
A cable-stayed bridge has one or more ''towers'' (or ''pylons''), from which wire rope, cables support the bridge deck. A distinctive feature are the cables or wikt:stay#Etymology 3, stays, which run directly from the tower to the deck, norm ...
, which would have cost $2.15 billion and taken until 2022.[ The most expensive option would be to get rid of the bridge altogether and replace it with either a bored tunnel or an immersed tunnel through which traffic would traverse under the Kill Van Kull. This option would have taken the longest, being complete in 2024 and costing $2.2 to $3 billion.][ In initial planning documents, a ]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 ...
was also considered, but this was not investigated further in the CoE study.
Another study, an environmental review by the U.S. Coast Guard, was commissioned in 2009. The review was required because the project would take place over a navigable waterway. The study cost over $2 million, took four years, and resulted in 5,000 pages of reviews. Despite its duration and cost, which precluded the start of construction until 2013, it was one of the Coast Guard's quickest environmental reviews for such a major project. In March 2012, the Port Authority submitted a request to the federal government for an expedited environmental review process, which was approved in July 2012 even though some residents in Newark and 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 ...
said they wanted the Coast Guard to conduct a full environmental review.
According to the Port Authority, the "Raise the Roadway" project would have many benefits, the first being that it would allow larger, more environmentally friendly ships to pass through the port. As a result of the project, the proportion of the arc above the roadway would be reduced, with only 22 cables suspending the new roadway below the arch as opposed to 30 cables holding up the old roadway.[ As for the roadway itself, the single roadway would be replaced by two new roadway decks with new supporting piers and approach roads. Route 440 would be widened from one roadway with no shoulders and four lanes, to two roadways with two lanes each, a median divider, and shoulders.] There would also be a bikeway and walkway the entire length of the bridge, with access ramps to replace stairs.[ The design also allows for future transit service such as ]light rail
Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...
. Extending the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail line to Staten Island over the bridge has been proposed, though final design plans do not include a rapid transit component. Finally, the project would support nearly 2,800 jobs[ and $240–380 million in wages throughout the construction industry,][ as well as $1.6 billion of economic activity.]
The CoE estimated that raising the Bayonne Bridge would produce a $3.3 billion national benefit, noting that 12% of all US international containers pass under the bridge, that the port indirectly creates 269,900 jobs, and that port activity generates $11 billion in annual national wages.[ The project would allow 12,000-container ships to pass under the bridge, increasing capacity; before the project, the largest ships allowed to pass under the bridge were 9,000-container ships.][ Congressmen from both New York and New Jersey pressed the Port Authority to act quickly,] despite lowered revenues from reduced traffic at the Port Authority's six crossings. The Port Authority announced its official plan in 2011.[ The Coast Guard held two public meetings about the bridge in 2012. Improvements at Port Jersey on the ]Upper New York Bay
New York Harbor is a bay that covers all of the Upper Bay. It is at the mouth of the Hudson River near the East River tidal estuary on the East Coast of the United States.
New York Harbor is generally synonymous with Upper New York Bay ...
were also underway.[
]
Mid-2010s: Construction of new roadbed
The Port Authority believed that it was possible to build the new roadway without interrupting traffic flow between Staten Island and Bayonne. In July 2012, the Port Authority announced construction would begin in the middle of 2013, to be completed by 2017. In this timeline, removal of the existing roadway would be completed by late 2015, in time for the opening of the widened Panama Canal. The project would cost $1.7 billion and last five years.
One of the challenges faced by the project was the tight confines of the construction area: residential homes lay less than from the work site, though none of them were in the path of the construction itself.[ In 2014, Staten Islanders living near the Port Richmond work site filed a lawsuit, alleging that the construction work violated the ]Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 () is a landmark civil rights and United States labor law, labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on Race (human categorization), race, Person of color, color, religion, sex, and nationa ...
by exposing predominately-minority communities in Port Richmond to toxins. In 2015, some Bayonne residents lodged complaints due to excessive noise, vibrations, dust over their neighborhood, and construction debris falling off the bridge (such as paint chips), though the Port Authority later settled those complaints.[ The project would also necessitate the temporary closure of a park in Bayonne.][ Additionally, the Bayonne Bridge would remain open to vehicle traffic throughout the construction.]
On April 24, 2013, the Port Authority's Board of Commissioners awarded a $743.3 million contract to a joint venture of Skanska Koch and Kiewit Infrastructure Company.[ The construction involved building support columns first, then adding prefabricated road segments using a ]gantry crane
A gantry crane is a Crane (machine), crane built atop a wikt:gantry, gantry, which is a structure used to straddle an object or workspace. They can range from enormous "full" gantry cranes, capable of lifting some of the heaviest loads in the wor ...
that rolled on top of the arch. The gantry crane would construct one rope-supported section of the new roadway at a time, using a temporary beam to support the existing roadway while each rope was replaced. The existing roadway would then be removed. Temporary bridge closures allowed new floor beams to be attached to the arch's ropes in order to support steel stringers that would hold up the new roadway. This work was expedited by Barack Obama's presidential administration due to the importance of the project to national commerce, being one of the first applicants to Obama's "We Can't Wait" initiative of important infrastructure projects.[ New Jersey Governor ]Chris Christie
Christopher James Christie (born September 6, 1962) is an American politician and former United States Attorney, federal prosecutor who served as the 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018. A member of the Republican Party (United States) ...
also considered the project a high priority for his state.
The pedestrian walkway, cantilevered from the western side of the roadway, was temporarily closed on August 5, 2013, for reconstruction. It was to be moved to the eastern side of the bridge. The walkway was scheduled to reopen in 2017. In 2015, the completion date was delayed to 2019, due to unfavorable weather conditions in the winter of 2014–2015. This also delayed the desired navigational clearance to late 2017. The delays in the project meant that, with the expansion of the Panama Canal being completed in mid-2016, larger ships would not be able to serve Newark, thus possibly negatively affecting traffic to other ports on the United States' East Coast. The Port Authority revised its timeline, expecting traffic to be shifted to the new roadway in early 2017, the old roadway to be removed by late 2017, and the project to be completed in mid-2019 with the completion of the roadway for southbound traffic. In November 2016, the future northbound span, intended temporarily for both directions of travel, was completed.
On February 20, 2017, the completed eastern (future northbound) roadway opened for traffic, with one lane in each direction, and the old lower roadway was permanently closed. The western (future southbound) roadway was scheduled to be completed in 2019, at which time there would be two lanes in each direction and a pedestrian walkway. Also on February 20, the Bayonne Bridge became the first Port Authority crossing to use a fully automated and cashless electronic toll collection
Electronic toll collection (ETC) is a wireless system to automatically collect the usage fee or Road pricing, toll charged to vehicles using toll roads, HOV lanes, toll bridges, and toll tunnels. It is a faster alternative which is replacing Tol ...
system. All vehicles proceed without stopping at the toll plaza. Those with E-ZPass are billed in the usual way, while cameras record the license plate numbers of those without an E-ZPass tag and their registered owners soon receive a toll bill by mail.[Villanova, Patrick]
"Bayonne Bridge's new elevated roadway set to open"
, '' The Jersey Journal'', February 17, 2017. Accessed February 17, 2017. "A new era for the Bayonne Bridge will begin Monday when the newly constructed elevated roadway on the 85-year-old arch bridge
An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its structural load, loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either si ...
opens to drivers.... Last week, the Port Authority revealed the bridge's new cashless toll on the Staten Island side of the Kill van Kull.... Toll payments will not change for drivers with E-ZPass, but for the less than 10 percent of Bayonne Bridge drivers who do not use E-ZPass, an overhead camera will photograph their vehicle's license plate and a toll bill will be mailed to the registered owner." The desired navigational clearance was achieved June 8, 2017. Two years after the opening of the northbound roadway, on February 11, 2019, the new southbound roadway was completed, and the traffic flow of the bridge was restored to two lanes in each direction. The pedestrian and bike path opened May 24, 2019. The overall project received the 2020 Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement award from the American Society of Civil Engineers
The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) is a tax-exempt professional body founded in 1852 to represent members of the civil engineering profession worldwide. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, it is the oldest national engineering soci ...
, citing the "first-of-its-kind construction sequence, ... keeping both road and sea traffic open."
2020s to present
Suicide prevention call boxes were installed on the pedestrian walkway in March 2023. After they were implemented on the George Washington Bridge in December 2023, the 11 K1 call boxes on the pedestrian path were upgraded to utilize the Knightscope Emergency Management System (KEMS) in March 2024. A study is being commenced to potentially upgrade existing suicide equipment, as well as adding equipment to the northbound roadway. Upgrades include adding netting to the fences of the pedestrian path, and upgrading call boxes to have increased communication capabilities with the Port Authority Police.
Traffic
From January to November 2016, the Bayonne Bridge carried about 4,500 vehicles per day. The E-ZPass automatic collection system was used by 91% of drivers for toll payment.[Port Authority of NY and NJ, 2016 Monthly Traffic and Percent of E-ZPass Usage](_blank)
, accessed November 5, 2016 In 2011, it carried an average of 19,378 vehicles per day, which dropped to a daily average of 15,221 vehicles in 2014 after construction started, and further to 10,840 in 2015. The Bayonne Bridge is more lightly trafficked than any other Port Authority crossing.[
In September 2007, ]MTA Regional Bus Operations
MTA Regional Bus Operations (RBO) is the Public transport bus service, bus operations division of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York City. The MTA operates local, limited-stop, express, and Select Bus Service (bus rapid transit ...
began a limited-stop bus route (the S89) that crosses the bridge. The route's termini are the Hylan Boulevard bus terminal in Eltingville, Staten Island
Eltingville is a neighborhood in the Staten Island borough of New York City, United States. It is located on Staten Island's South Shore, Staten Island, South Shore, immediately to the south of Great Kills, Staten Island, Great Kills and north ...
and the 34th Street Hudson-Bergen Light Rail Station in Bayonne. This is the first interstate bus service offered by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is a New York state public benefit corporations, public benefit corporation in New York (state), New York State responsible for public transportation in the New York metropolitan area, New York Ci ...
.
Tolls
, the tolls-by-mail rate going from New Jersey
New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
to 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 ...
is $18.31 for cars and motorcycles; there is no toll for passenger vehicles going from New York City to New Jersey. New Jersey and New York–issued E-ZPass users are charged $14.06 for cars and $13.06 for motorcycles during off-peak hours, and $16.06 for cars and $15.06 for motorcycles during peak hours. Users with E-ZPass issued from agencies outside of New Jersey and New York are charged the tolls-by-mail rate. Frequent users traveling more than three trips per month can receive discounts under the "Staten Island Bridges Plan" ($8.03 per trip for cars at all times). From July 2025, the Mid-Tier rate $18.72, while the toll-by-mail rate $22.38.
Tolls are collected only for southbound traffic. Originally, tolls were collected in both directions. In August 1970, the toll was abolished for northbound drivers, and at the same time, southbound drivers saw their tolls doubled. The tolls of eleven other New York–New Jersey and Hudson River crossings along a stretch, from the Outerbridge Crossing in the south to the Rip Van Winkle Bridge in the north, were changed to eastbound-only at that time.
Open-road cashless tolling began on February 20, 2017. The tollbooths were dismantled, and drivers were no longer able to pay cash at the bridge. Instead, there are cameras mounted onto new overhead gantries located on the Staten Island side. A vehicle without E-ZPass has a picture taken of its license plate and a bill for the toll is mailed to its owner. For E-ZPass users, sensors detect their transponders wirelessly.
Historic toll rates
In popular culture
The Bayonne Bridge appears in the 2005 science fiction
Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
film '' War of the Worlds'', being shown in the background several times in the scenes set in the lead character's Bayonne home; it is then destroyed in an attack by aliens. The bridge and surrounding Bayonne community was also featured in the 2001 film '' A Beautiful Mind'' and the HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...
prison drama '' Oz''.[
]
See also
* List of bridges documented by the Historic American Engineering Record in New Jersey
* List of bridges documented by the Historic American Engineering Record in New York
* List of bridges, tunnels, and cuts in Hudson County, New Jersey
References
Notes
Further reading
*
External links
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey: Bayonne Bridge
*
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey: Bayonne Bridge 80th year commemoration
Bayonne Bridge
at Bridges & Tunnels
Bayonne Bridge (NY 440 and NJ 440)
at NYCRoads.com
*
Bayonne Bridge Blog
*
at The Jersey Journal
{{Authority control
Bridges completed in 1931
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey crossings
Bridges in Staten Island
Transportation in Bayonne, New Jersey
Through arch bridges in the United States
Toll bridges in New Jersey
Toll bridges in New York City
Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks
Historic American Engineering Record in New Jersey
Historic American Engineering Record in New York City
Bridges in Hudson County, New Jersey
Road bridges in New York City
Road bridges in New Jersey
Bridges by Othmar Ammann
Cass Gilbert buildings
Transportation projects in New York City
Steel bridges in the United States
1931 establishments in New Jersey
1931 establishments in New York (state)
Interstate vehicle bridges in the United States
1931 establishments in New York City