The Lyndhurst Draw is a

railroad bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

crossing the

Passaic River Passaic River ( ) is a river, approximately long, in 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 suburban northern New Jersey, ...

between Clifton and Lyndhurst in northeastern New Jersey. Built in 1903, it is owned and operated by

New Jersey 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 ...

(NJT). The

swing bridge A swing bridge (or swing span bridge) is a movable bridge that has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its center of gravity, about which the swing span (turning span) can then p ...

is situated between the Lyndhurst and Delawanna stations of NJT's Main Line, from its origination point at

Hoboken Terminal Hoboken Terminal is a commuter-oriented intermodal passenger station in Hoboken, Hudson County, New Jersey. One of the New York metropolitan area's major transportation hubs, it is served by nine NJ Transit (NJT) commuter rail lines, one ...

, and from the river's mouth at

Newark Bay Newark Bay is a tidal bay at the confluence of the Passaic and Hackensack Rivers in northeastern New Jersey. It is home to the Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal, the largest container shipping facility in Port of New York and New Jer ...

Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (3 ...

uses the bridge to access Croxton Yard to the east across the

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

. The bridge is required by federal regulations to open on 24-hour notice. It is listed on the

New Jersey Register of Historic Places The New Jersey Register of Historic Places is the official list of historic resources of local, state, and national interest in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The program is administered by the New Jersey's state historic preservation office withi ...

(ID#2950). The lower of the long Passaic River downstream of the

Dundee Dam The Dundee Canal was an industrial canal in Clifton and Passaic in Passaic County, New Jersey. It was built between 1858 and 1861 and ran parallel to the Passaic River. It supplied hydropower and water for manufacturing. There was interest by so ...

is tidally influenced and

navigable A body of water, such as a river, canal or lake, is navigable if it is deep, wide and calm enough for a water vessel (e.g. boats) to pass safely. Such a navigable water is called a ''waterway'', and is preferably with few obstructions against dir ...

. Rail service across the river was originally oriented to bringing passengers and freight from the points west over the

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

Bergen Hill Bergen Hill refers to the lower Hudson Palisades in New Jersey, where they emerge on Bergen Neck, which in turn is the peninsula between the Hackensack and Hudson Rivers, and their bays. In Hudson County, it reaches a height of 260 feet. Rail ...

, where tunnels and cuts provided access terminals on the Hudson River. The crossing of the river was developed under the auspices of the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad (DL&W) as part of its Boonton Branch, which in 1960 merged with the

Erie Railroad The Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in the northeastern United States, originally connecting New York City — more specifically Jersey City, New Jersey, where Erie's Pavonia Terminal, long demolished, used to stand — with Lake ...

to form the

Erie Lackawanna The Erie Lackawanna Railway , known as the Erie Lackawanna Railroad until 1968, was formed from the 1960 merger of the Erie Railroad and the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad. The official motto of the line was "The Friendly Service Route ...

. In 1963, the Erie's Main Line south of

Paterson Paterson may refer to: People * Paterson (surname) * Paterson (given name) Places Australia *Paterson, New South Wales *Paterson River, New South Wales * Division of Paterson, an electoral district in New South Wales *Paterson, Queensland, a lo ...

through downtown Passaic was abandoned and service was shifted to the alignment over the Lyndhurst Draw and the

Upper Hack Lift Upper Hack Lift is a lift bridge carrying the New Jersey Transit Main Line across the Hackensack River at mile 6.9 between Secaucus, New Jersey and Lyndhurst. History It was built by the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad in 1958 and ...

. Operations were later taken over by Conrail under contract with the

New Jersey Department of Transportation The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) is the agency responsible for transportation issues and policy in New Jersey, including maintaining and operating the state's highway and public road system, planning and developing transportat ...

, and in 1983 by NJT.

References

External links

NJTR - Lyndhurst Draw
at Bridgehunter.com *
1902 flood
at nytimes.com {{Crossings navbox , structure = Crossings , place =

, bridge = Lyndhurst Draw , bridge signs =

NJ Transit New Jersey Transit Corporation, branded as NJ Transit, and often shortened to NJT, is a state-owned public transportation system that serves the U.S. state of New Jersey, along with portions of New York State and Pennsylvania. It operates bus, ...

, upstream = New Jersey Route 3 , upstream signs = , downstream = Kingsland Avenue Bridge , downstream signs = Railroad bridges in New Jersey Bridges over the Passaic River Swing bridges in the United States NJ Transit bridges Clifton, New Jersey Bridges in Passaic County, New Jersey Lyndhurst, New Jersey Bridges in Bergen County, New Jersey Erie Lackawanna Railway Conrail Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad bridges Bridges completed in 1901 Norfolk Southern Railway bridges

See also

References

External links