The Chaplain Washington Memorial Bridge and the Harry Laderman Memorial Bridge are a pair of bridges on the

New Jersey Turnpike The New Jersey Turnpike (NJTP) is a system of controlled-access highway, controlled-access toll roads in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The turnpike is maintained by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA).The Garden State Parkway, although ma ...

(

Interstate 95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, north to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the ...

) crossing the

Passaic River The Passaic River ( or ) is a river, approximately long, in North Jersey, northern New Jersey. The river in its upper course flows in a highly circuitous route, meandering through the swamp lowlands between the ridge hills of rural and suburb ...

in northeastern

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 ...

. Unlike most twin bridges, each bridge carries traffic in both directions. The 1952 Washington Bridge carries the eastern spur of the Turnpike while the 1970 Laderman Bridge carries its western spur; the two spurs split just south of the bridges.

Description

The bridges pass over the Passaic River, connecting Newark in Essex County with Kearny in

Hudson County Hudson County is a List of counties in New Jersey, 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 North River (Hudson River), Hudson River, the No ...

. In Newark, the viaducts leading to the bridges align for the southbound merge/northbound separation of the eastern and western spurs just north of the Southern Mixing Bowl interchange with

Interstate 78 Interstate 78 (I-78) is an east–west Interstate Highway in the Northeastern United States that runs from I-81 northeast of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, through Allentown to western and North Jersey, terminating at the Holland Tunnel entra ...

. The southern end of the bridges cross under the

Pulaski Skyway The Pulaski Skyway is a four-lane bridge-causeway in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of New Jersey, carrying a freeway designated U.S. Route 1/9 (US 1/9) for most of its length. The structure has a total length of . Its long ...

( U.S. 1-9) and passes by the

Essex County Resource Recovery Facility The Essex County Resource Recovery Facility, also known as Covanta Essex, is a waste-to-energy incineration power station in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. Opened in 1990, it is owned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PA ...

and over the

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 ...

Passaic and Harsimus Line The Passaic and Harsimus Line, part of Conrail Shared Assets Operations, serves freight in Gateway Region, northeastern New Jersey. It takes trains from the Northeast Corridor and Lehigh Line (Conrail), Lehigh Line near Newark Liberty Interna ...

. In Kearny, the bridges cross over the railroad right-of-way of the PATH system, the Conrail

Center Street Branch The Center Street Branch, formerly known as the Centre Street Branch, is a short railway line in Harrison and Kearny, New Jersey. It was formerly the main line of the New Jersey Railroad between Jersey City and Newark, before the building of a ...

NJ Transit Rail Operations NJ Transit Rail Operations is the rail division of NJ Transit. It operates commuter rail service in New Jersey, with most service centered on transportation to and from New York City, Hoboken, and Newark. NJ Transit also operates rail service ...

, and the

Northeast Corridor The Northeast Corridor (NEC) is an electrified railroad line in the Northeast megalopolis of the United States. Owned primarily by Amtrak, it runs from Boston in the north to Washington, D.C., in the south, with major stops in Providence, Rhod ...

. They soon enter the Kearny Marshes of

New Jersey Meadowlands New Jersey Meadowlands, also known as the Hackensack Meadowlands after the Hackensack River, primary river flowing through it, is a general name for a large ecosystem of wetlands in northeastern New Jersey in the United States, a few miles to th ...

, where they diverge and soon cross over the Newark-Jersey City Turnpike ( CR 508). The Chaplain Washington Bridge ends before the Belleville Turnpike and the eastern spur briefly touches ground before ascending to cross the Hackensack on the Lewandowski Bridge. The Laderman Bridge reaches its northern end in Saw Mill Creek Wildlife Management Area at the Belleville Turnpike, and the western spur continues past Meadowlands Environment Center and the

Meadowlands Sports Complex The Meadowlands Sports Complex is a sports complex located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States. The facility is owned and operated by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority (NJSEA). It is named for the New Jersey Meadowlands ...

. The two spurs eventually merge again north of the

Vince Lombardi Park & Ride The Vince Lombardi Park & Ride is located on the New Jersey Turnpike in the New Jersey Meadowlands, Meadowlands in Ridgefield, New Jersey, Ridgefield, Bergen County, New Jersey. The park and ride and separate Rest area, service area to south of ...

across the

Hackensack River The Hackensack River is a river, about 45 miles (72 km) long, in the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, emptying into Newark Bay, a back chamber of New York Harbor. The watershed of the river includes part of the suburban ar ...

Bergen County Bergen County is the List of counties in New Jersey, most populous County (United States), county in the U.S. state of New Jersey.John P. Washington, who was one of 4 chaplains who gave their lives to save soldiers during the sinking of the

SS Dorchester ''Dorchester'' was a coastal passenger steamship requisitioned and operated by the War Shipping Administration (WSA) in January 1942 for wartime use as a troop ship allocated to United States Army requirements. The ship was operated for WSA by ...

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 ...

. 18 years later, the Harry Laderman bridge opened directly east of the Washington Bridge as part of the building of the turnpike's western spur extension. This bridge is named after toll booth operator Harry Laderman, an employee of the

New Jersey Turnpike Authority The New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA) is a state agency responsible for maintaining the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway, which are two toll roads in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The agency is headquartered in Woodbridge Town ...

who was killed on the job after a truck slammed into his toll booth at Exit 16E. The NJTA estimates that both the Harry Laderman and Chaplain Washington bridges have the highest rate of truck traffic throughout the entire NJ Turnpike system of highways. The Laderman is rated as structurally deficient on the

National Bridge Inventory The National Bridge Inventory (NBI) is a database, compiled by the Federal Highway Administration, with information on all bridges and tunnels in the United States that have roads passing above or below them. That is similar to the grade-crossing ...

condition rating scale with numerous cracks, flares, and structural fatigue. The NJTA announced plans in 2014 to rehabilitate the bridge and investigate the structural integrity of the bridge and how to repair it. As of 2019, the bridge’s rehabilitation was about 69 percent complete.

Gallery

New Jersey Turnpike Chaplain Washington Bridge from Newark-Kearny, NJ 1950s.png, Chaplain Washington Bridge passing under the Pulaski Skyway (1952) NewJerseyTurnpikePassaicRiver.jpg, Laderman and Chaplain Washington bridges seen from PATH train Railroad yards in Kearney, New Jersey.jpg, Crossing the Passaic and rail lines upstream of Point-No-Point Bridge

References

{{Crossings navbox , structure = Crossings , place =

, bridge = Chaplain Washington–Harry Laderman Bridge , bridge signs = I-95

, upstream =

Jackson Street Bridge The Jackson Street Bridge is a bridge on the Passaic River between Newark and Harrison, New Jersey. The swing bridge is the 6th bridge from the river's mouth at Newark Bay and is upstream from it. Opened in 1903 and substantially rehabilit ...

, upstream signs = , downstream = Point-No-Point Bridge , downstream signs = New Jersey Turnpike Interstate 95 Road bridges in New Jersey Transportation in Newark, New Jersey Kearny, New Jersey Bridges completed in 1970 Bridges in Hudson County, New Jersey Bridges in Newark, New Jersey

Description

Gallery

See also

References