The original Goethals Bridge () spanned the

Arthur Kill The Arthur Kill (sometimes referred to as the Staten Island Sound) is a tidal strait in the New York–New Jersey Harbor Estuary between Staten Island (also known as Richmond County), New York, and Union and Middlesex counties, New Jersey. It ...

, connecting

Elizabeth, New Jersey Elizabeth is a City (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Union County, New Jersey, Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Staten Island, New York 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 ...

, United States (near 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 ...

).Kenneth T. Jackson: The Encyclopedia of New York City: The New York Historical Society; Yale University Press; 1995. P. 471. In 2017, it was replaced by the New Goethals Bridge and later demolished. Old Goethals Br gap ar jeh

A steel truss

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 ...

design by

John Alexander Low Waddell Dr. John Alexander Low Waddell (January 15, 1854 – March 3, 1938, often shortened to J.A.L. Waddell and sometimes known as John Alexander Waddell) was a Canadian-American civil engineer and prolific bridge designer, with more than a thou ...

, who also designed the

Outerbridge Crossing The Outerbridge Crossing, also known as the Outerbridge, is a cantilever bridge that spans the Arthur Kill between Perth Amboy, New Jersey, Perth Amboy, New Jersey, and Staten Island, New York (state), New York, United States. It carries New Yor ...

. The bridge's 672 ft (205 m) long central span, 7,109 feet (2,168 m) long in total, 62 feet (19 m) wide, had a clearance of 135 feet (41.1 m) and carried four lanes for traffic. The Port Authority had $3 million of state money and raised $14 million in bonds to build the Goethals Bridge and the

; the Goethals Bridge's construction began on September 1, 1925 and cost $7.2 million. It and the Outerbridge Crossing opened on June 29, 1928. The Goethals Bridge replaced three ferries and is the immediate neighbor of the Arthur Kill Rail Bridge. Its unusually high mid-span height was a requirement of the New Jersey ports. The span was one of the first structures built by 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 ...

. On the New Jersey side it was located 2 exits south of the terminus for the New Jersey Turnpike-Newark Bay Extension. The bridge had been grandfathered into

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 ...

, and named for Major General

George Washington Goethals George Washington Goethals ( June 29, 1858 – January 21, 1928) was an American military officer and civil engineer, best known for his administration and supervision of the construction and the opening of the Panama Canal. He was the first Go ...

, who supervised construction 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 ...

and was the first consulting engineer of the Port Authority. Connecting onto 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 ...

, it has been one of the main routes for traffic between there and

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 ...

via the

Staten Island Expressway Interstate 278 (I-278) is an auxiliary Interstate Highway in New Jersey and New York in the United States. The road runs from US Route 1/9 (US 1/9) in Linden, New Jersey, northeast to the Bruckner Interchange in the New York C ...

and the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge. Until the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge was completed in 1964 the Goethals Bridge never turned a profit. The same happened to the

. The total traffic in 2002 was 15.68 million vehicles.

References

External links

Goethals Bridge
PANYNJ * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Goethals Bridge (1928-2017) 1928 establishments in New Jersey 1928 establishments in New York City 2017 disestablishments in New Jersey 2017 disestablishments in New York (state) Bridges completed in 1928 Bridges in Staten Island Bridges in Union County, New Jersey Bridges on the Interstate Highway System Buildings and structures demolished in 2017 Demolished bridges in the United States Historic American Engineering Record in New Jersey Historic American Engineering Record in New York City Interstate 78 Port Authority of New York and New Jersey crossings Transportation in Staten Island Truss bridges in the United States de:Goethals Bridge#Goethals Bridge (1928)