Belleville Turnpike Bridge

The Belleville Turnpike Bridge is a vehicular moveable bridge spanning the Passaic River in northeastern New Jersey 8.9 miles (14.3 km) from its river mouth at Newark Bay. Also known as Rutgers Street Bridge and Route 7 Bridge, it is the fourth fixed crossing to be built at the location, today the tripoint of the municipal and county lines of Belleville in Essex, Kearny in Hudson, and North Arlington in Bergen. Commissioned by the New Jersey Department of Transportation, which owns and operates it, the vertical lift bridge opened in 2002.

Belleville Turnpike Bridge
2021
Coordinates40°47′11″N 74°08′51″W
Carries Route 7
CrossesPassaic River
LocaleBelleville
Kearny
North Arlington
in New Jersey
Other name(s)Rutgers Street Bridge
New Jersey Route 7 Bridge
Lance Corporal Osbrany Montes de Oca Memorial Bridge
OwnerNJDOT
ID number0208150
Preceded bybridges built in 1790, 1841, 1915
Characteristics
DesignLift
MaterialStructural steel & reinforced concrete
Total length324.2 feet (98.8 m)
Width67.6 feet (20.6 m)
Longest span125 feet (38 m)
No. of spans5
Clearance above16.1 feet (4.9 m)
Clearance below49.9 feet (15.2 m) (open)
History
Construction start2002
Opened2002
Location
References
[1][2][3]

Operations

The lower 17 miles (27 km) of the 90-mile-long (140 km) Passaic River downstream of the Dundee Dam is tidally influenced and channelized.[4] Once one of the most heavily used waterways in the Port of New York and New Jersey, it remains partially navigable for commercial marine traffic. While requests have significantly diminished since the mid-late 20th century, the bridge at MP 11.7 and those downstream from it are required by federal regulations to open. Both bridges along New Jersey Route 7 are operated by the NJDOT. The crossing of the Hackensack River, the Wittpenn Bridge, is staffed and opens on demand.[5] The Rutgers Street Bridge requires four hours' notice for opening.[6][7]

History

The valley of the Passaic River in the vicinity of the bridge was first settled by Europeans in the late 17th century. Schuyler Copper Mine, founded in 1715, was one of the earliest in the United States. Of the homesteads that lined the banks, several remain, including (from south to north) the Sydenham House, the Van Riper House, Kingsland Manor, Vreeland Homestead, Jacob W. Van Winkle House, and Yereance-Berry House. Belleville was founded near the point where the Second River empties in the Passaic, the river crossing is in the immediate vicinity of the Reformed Dutch Church of Second River. A bridge crossing the Passaic was built some time earlier at Acquackanonk about 4 miles to the north.

Bascule bridge 1915–2000

The Belleville Turnpike was created in 1759 as a colonial turnpike originally laid with cedar logs to cross what was then known as New Barbadoes Neck and today as the Kearny Meadows.[8][9] The first bridge across the Passaic River at Rutgers Street was chartered in 1790 by Anthony Rutgers.[10] The wooden structure burned down in 1841, and was immediately replaced by the second, known as the White Bridge.[11] That structure was replaced in 1914 by a bascule bridge.[12]

Dedication

As of July 4, 2013, the bridge was formally designated the Lance Corporal Osbrany Montes de Oca Memorial Bridge to honor a North Arlington resident, a 20-year-old U.S. Marine fatally wounded February 10, 2012, while serving in Afghanistan.[13][14][15][16]

See also

References
  1. "Route 7 over Passaic River". National Bridge Inventory via Ugly Bridges. Retrieved 2012-08-28.
  2. "The Route 7 Bridge over the Passaic River" (PDF). Structure Magazine. October 2005. Retrieved 2012-08-28.
  3. Replacement of the Route 7 Bridge over the Passaic River (PDF) (Report). Heavy Movable Structures. October 24, 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved 2012-08-24.
  4. "Lower Passaic River Restoration Project Commercial Navigation Analysis" (PDF) (2nd Revision ed.). United States Army Corps of Engineers. July 2, 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-03-19. Retrieved 2012-08-28.
  5. "Drawbridge Schedules". NJDOT. April 12, 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-21.
  6. "Section 117.739 – Passaic River" (PDF). Code of Federal Regulations Title 33 – Navigation and Navigable Waters Volume: 1. Government Publishing Office. July 1, 2002. Retrieved 2012-08-21. The draw of the Route 7 (Rutgers Street) Bridge, mile 8.9, at Belleville, shall open on signal if at least four hours notice is given.
  7. "33 CFR 117.739 – Passaic River". Code of Federal Regulations. Coast Guard, Department of Homeland Security. Archived from the original on August 12, 2014. Retrieved 2012-08-21. updated to July 1, 2010
  8. "Town of Kearny History". Town of Kearny. Archived from the original on May 4, 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-11.
  9. Murphy, John L. (1877). Index of Colonial and State Laws Between the Years 1663 and 1877 Inclusive. Stare of New Jersey. Retrieved 2008-11-11.
  10. Canfora, Nicole T. (2002), Belleville, Arcadia Publishing, ISBN 9780738510163
  11. "White Bridge 1902 flood". Bellville Floods. Bellville Public Library. November 16, 2005. Archived from the original on April 14, 2013. Retrieved 2012-09-08.
  12. Van Dolsen, Nancy (1998). "Route 7 Bridge (Belleville Turnpike Bridge)" (PDF). Historic American Engineering Record. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 4, 2014. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
  13. Grant, Meeghan (December 6, 2012). "Lyndhurst's DeJessa, bridges showing their ages". The Record. Retrieved 2012-12-12.
  14. Hampton, Deon J. "Lawmakers move to honor fallen North Arlington Marine with bridge re-naming". The Record. Retrieved 2012-12-12.
  15. Hickey, James P. "North Arlington looking for answers on De Oca Bridge sign", South Bergenite, July 25, 2013. Accessed August 21, 2013.
  16. Assembly, No. 2676 State of New Jersey 215th Legislature, New Jersey General Assembly, introduced March 8, 2012. Accessed August 21, 2013. "Designates State Highway Route 7 bridge between Township of Belleville and Borough of North Arlington 'Lance Corporal Osbrany Montes de Oca Memorial Bridge.'"
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