The William A. Stickel Memorial Bridge is 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 ...
in
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 ...
that crosses 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 ...
, connecting
Newark and
East Newark as part of
Interstate 280. The bridge is named in honor of
William A. Stickel, a civil engineer from
Newark who served as the Essex County engineer for over 20 years.
The bridge was constructed from 1948 to 1949 as
Route 25A and is owned and operated by 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 transport ...
. The total length of the structure is , and it provides a clearance of . The length of the movable section is . The bridge was inaugurated on May 1, 1949, and became part of the interstate system in 1971.
The bridge is one of the few movable bridges that remain in the
Interstate Highway System
The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, or the Eisenhower Interstate System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Hi ...
. The bridge remained manned by a drawtender until March 3, 1999. It rarely opens and requires 24-hour notice to NJDOT for opening. The six-lane Stickel Bridge has four through-traffic lanes and two lanes for traffic entering and exiting
Route 21 at exit 15 just west of the bridge.
Rehabilitation
The April 2001 release of a New Jersey Department of Transportation report labeling the Stickel Bridge "structurally deficient and functionally obsolete" has prompted officials to consider options to either rehabilitate or replace the bridge. Inspectors found both the superstructure and substructure of the old span to be in "poor" condition, the result of wall cracks and severe corrosion of structural steel. Furthermore, the steel-grated roadway, narrow lanes and tight ramps leading to the local streets have contributed to the bridge's high accident rate.
In May 2008, the rehabilitation work on the span was completed. Work included having its mechanical systems overhauled, and removal of its old black coating, in favor of a light blue paint.
Pedestrian Access
Built prior to the conception of the
Interstate Highway System
The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, or the Eisenhower Interstate System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Hi ...
, the bridge initially provided pedestrian access between the McCarter Highway (
SR 21) in Newark and Hamilton Street in
Harrison. A 2016 project to improve safety at the I-280/Route 21 interchange resulted in the permanent closure of the pedestrian access to the bridge, in accordance with the prohibition of pedestrian access to interstate highways.
The stairways up to the bridge and the sidewalks along the bridge are still extant but are gated off, and guardrail reconfiguration on the exit ramps additionally limits access.
See also
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List of crossings of the Lower Passaic River
The Lower Passaic River in New Jersey is the section of the Passaic River below the Great Falls (Passaic River), Great Falls which flows over the Dundee Canal, Dundee Dam to the river mouth at Newark Bay in the Gateway Region, northeastern pa ...
References
External links
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NYC Roads page for Interstate 280
{{coord, 40.7480, -74.1658, region:US-NJ_type:landmark, display=title
Bridges over the Passaic River
Bridges completed in 1949
Bridges in Hudson County, New Jersey
Stickel
Movable bridges on the Interstate Highway System
Transportation in Newark, New Jersey
Vertical lift bridges in New Jersey
East Newark, New Jersey
Interstate 80
Road bridges in New Jersey
Steel bridges in the United States