Midtown Bridge, also known as the Salem Street Bridge and William C. Ryan Memorial Bridge, crosses over 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 ...

between Hackensack and Bogota, in

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.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. The through truss bridge was originally a

swing bridge A swing bridge (or swing span bridge) is a movable bridge that can be rotated horizontally around a vertical axis. It has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its center of gravit ...

built in 1900 for trolleys. It became a

road bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

in 1940 and its swing span was fixed in 1984. It was closed in 2017 and slated for replacement; the rebuilt bridge reopened in April 2018.

History

The bridge was built in 1900 by F.R. Long and Company as a trolley bridge for the Bergen County Traction Company, which had opened in 1896. Steel for the bridge was provided by the Passaic Rolling Mill Company of Paterson. The bridge's original design was a through Pratt truss swing span on a stone center

pier A pier is a raised structure that rises above a body of water and usually juts out from its shore, typically supported by piling, piles or column, pillars, and provides above-water access to offshore areas. Frequent pier uses include fishing, b ...

. It carried two sets of tracks, part of line running to Edgewater where there was connecting ferry service across the Hudson River to Manhattan. Various lines were consolidated in 1900 into the New Jersey and Hudson River Railway Company and in 1910 were sold to the

Public Service Corporation The Public Service Corporation (PSC) was an energy and transportation company in New Jersey. It was formed to shore up financing and development of New Jersey's streetcar and power companies at a time when they were growing but exhausting Capital ...

as part of the Bergen Division which ran service between the ferry and the Broadway Terminal in Paterson. Service was discontinued in 1938. The tracks were replaced with a steel deck and in 1940 the Midtown Bridge began carrying vehicular traffic. The swing span was closed for the passage of maritime vessels on February 4, 1978 and a in rehabilitation project in 1984 it was fixed in place and its machinery was removed. As of 2014,

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a Maritime Security Regimes, maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with cust ...

rules required that the draw be made operable within 12 months after notification by the District Commander.

Designation

In 1980, the bridge was designated the "Ryan Memorial Bridge," after Bogota resident and U.S. Marine Corps Lieutenant William C. Ryan, who was killed (MIA) during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

in 1969. It was designated the Lt. William C Ryan (USMC) Memorial Bridge during a re-dedication of the bridge on April 21, 2018.

Reconstruction

The Midtown Bridge was shut down for several weeks in 1998 by the Department of Public Works so that emergency repairs could be made to its steel joints, a situation described by county engineer Robert Mulder as "an ongoing problem that needs to be permanently fixed". A rehabilitation project closed the downriver Court Street Bridge from 2010 to 2012 and traffic diverted to the Midtown Bridge, which is believed to have suffered stresses due to the extra use. On October 17, 2013 the Midtown Bridge was temporarily shut down for emergency repairs again after Bogota’s Council President and Office of Emergency Management coordinator Tito Jackson noticed a large separation in the joints of bridge’s metal decking. As of 2017 the bridge was slated for replacement. It was closed on March 16 and expected to be completed in November 2017. It reopened on April 20, 2018.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Hackensack Street Cars/TrolleysRoad Warrior: Recalling an era when 'Big Red' was king
Buildings and structures in Hackensack, New Jersey Bogota, New Jersey Road bridges in New Jersey Bridges in Bergen County, New Jersey Swing bridges in the United States Bridges over the Hackensack River Bridges completed in 1900 Steel bridges in the United States Pratt truss bridges in the United States 1900 establishments in New Jersey

History

Designation

Reconstruction

See also

References

External links