The Bayonne Bridge connecting Bayonne, NJ, with Staten Island, NY, is too low to allow bigger post-Panamax ships to arrive at terminals in Port Newark, Elizabeth, NJ and Howland Hook, NY. Instead of building a new bridge, the Bayonne Bridge Navigational Clearance Program uses an innovative solution of “Raising the Roadway” that was conceived and engineered to work within the existing historic arch structure and build a new deck at a higher elevation above the navigational channel. Innovative construction also will allow commuters to continue to use the existing bridge during construction, with limited closures. The new deck will have wider 12-foot lanes, median divider, shoulders, a shared use path for pedestrians and bicyclists, and the potential for future transit service. Once completed, the Bayonne Bridge roadway will rise 215 feet above the Kill Van Kull waterway which was also dredged to allow for a continuous 50-foot channel for ship passage. To position the port for the Panama Canal expansion, the Port Authority of NY and NJ are thinking multi-modal: complementary projects to improve the rail network have increased capacity to allow shipments to a market of more than 100 million customers in 24 hours. The project also brings environmental benefits since newer, larger container ships are more environmentally sustainable. For example, a newer Post-Panamax ship can carry twice the cargo with only about a one-third increase in operating costs, resulting in greater efficiencies per container transported.
Learn more at www.panynj.gov
