Point-No-Point Bridge

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Point-No-Point Bridge
Coordinates 40°44′30″N74°07′17″W / 40.741791°N 74.121358°W / 40.741791; -74.121358
Carries Passaic and Harsimus Line
Crosses Passaic River
Locale Newark and Kearny
New Jersey
Owner Conrail
Characteristics
Design Bascule bridge
History
Construction start2022
Construction end2025
Construction cost$200 million
OpenedNovember 17, 2025
Location
Point-No-Point Bridge
Interactive map of Point-No-Point Bridge

Point-No-Point Bridge is a railroad bridge crossing the Passaic River between Newark and Kearny, New Jersey, United States, in the New Jersey Meadowlands. Originally a swing bridge built by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1901, [1] a replacement bascule bridge was built closely upstream and opened in 2025. [2] The bridge is owned by Conrail as part of its North Jersey Shared Assets and carries the Passaic and Harsimus Line used by CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern. [3] River Subdivision accesses the line via Marion Junction. The bridge is the fourth from the river's mouth at Newark Bay and is approximately 2.6 miles (4.2 km) upstream from it. [4]

Contents

Replacement span

The replacement span is a single-leaf bascule bridge. Conrail was responsible for the replacement; work began in July [2] 2022 [5] [6] and completed on November 17, 2025. [2] The new span can be opened and closed within 10 minutes, compared to the over five hours for the original span. [2] The total construction cost was $200 million, with over $78 million of it covered by grants from the NJDOT and FRA.

Original span

Point-No-Point Bridge
2021-09-19 10 55 06 View southeast down the Passaic River towards the Point-No-Point Bridge and Pulaski Skyway from the Chaplain Washington Bridge for Interstate 95 (New Jersey Turnpike Eastern Spur) along the border of Newark and Kearny in New Jersey.jpg
The original Point-No-Point Bridge (foreground) and Pulaski Skyway (background)
Coordinates 40°44′29″N74°07′17″W / 40.74148°N 74.12136°W / 40.74148; -74.12136
Carries Passaic and Harsimus Line
Crosses Passaic River
Locale Newark and Kearny
New Jersey
Owner Conrail
Characteristics
Design Swing bridge
Clearance below 21 feet (6.4 m) [4]
History
Construction end1901
ClosedNovember 17, 2025
Location
Point-No-Point Bridge
Interactive map of Point-No-Point Bridge

The original bridge was a camelback through truss bridge. A crossing of the Passaic at Point-No-Point was originally built by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) in the early 1890s [7] to bypass its mainline and thus shorten the distance to its rail yard at Harsimus Cove. [8] At the time the railroad crossed the Passaic at the Centre Street Bridge (no longer in existence) near its Newark station, at the site of today's New Jersey Performing Arts Center. The new Pennsylvania Cut-off diverged from the line (now today's Northeast Corridor) at Waverly Yard, crossed the Newark Ironbound and the Passaic to the Kearny Meadows and then crossed the Hackensack River on the Harsimus Branch Lift Bridge. It rejoined the main line at the Bergen Hill Cut, but diverged again using the Harsimus Stem Embankment to reach its freight yards on the Hudson River waterfront north of its passenger terminal at Exchange Place. The PRR also used the Lehigh Valley Railroad Bridge to reach its car float operations at Greenville Yard on the Upper New York Bay. [7]

The Point-No-Point Bridge's creosote-covered piers caught fire in 2000. [9]

The lower 17 miles (27 km) of the 90-mile-long (140 km) Passaic River below the Dundee Dam is tidally influenced and navigable commercial maritime traffic upstream of the Point-No-Point Bridge is constricted by the width between its piers when the moveable span is open. [4] Rules regulating the drawbridge operations determined by the US Coast Guard required 4 hours' notice for it to be swung open. [10]

The old bridge (at left) crosses the Passaic between the Kearny Meadows and the industrial area of the Newark Ironbound parallel to the New Jersey Turnpike NJTpk I95 PNP Ironbound jeh jeh.jpg
The old bridge (at left) crosses the Passaic between the Kearny Meadows and the industrial area of the Newark Ironbound parallel to the New Jersey Turnpike

See also

References

  1. ↑ Kofsky, Jared (October 2, 2018). "Point-No-Point Railroad Bridge from 1901 Could Be Replaced". Jersey Digs.
  2. 1 2 3 4 https://www.progressiverailroading.com/short_lines_regionals/news/Conrail-opens-new-rail-bridge-over-Passaic-River--75824
  3. ↑ Fallon, Scott (November 12, 2015). "Oil train bridges targeted in study; group says span over Passaic River decaying". NorthJersey.com. Archived from the original on October 24, 2016. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 "Lower Passaic River Restoration Project Commercial Navigation Analysis (2nd Revision)" (PDF). United States Army Corps of Engineers. July 2, 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 19, 2015. Retrieved August 5, 2012.
  5. ↑ Vantuono, William C. (November 4, 2022). "Politicians Get to the Point-No-Point: Conrail". Railway Track and Structures.
  6. ↑ Kingston, John (December 27, 2022). "120-plus-year-old New Jersey freight rail bridge replacement finally rising". FreightWaves.
  7. 1 2 "Two Small roads being Built in New-Jersey Important Extensions of the Pennsylvania Railroad to Relieve Overtaxed Jersey City Terminals" (PDF). The New York Times. July 1, 1891. Retrieved August 8, 2012.
  8. ↑ "Work on the Pennsylvania Cut-off" (PDF). The New York Times. May 12, 1900. Retrieved August 7, 2012.
  9. ↑ Hanley, Robert (July 15, 2000). "Bridge on Passaic River Burns, Filling Sky With Thick Smoke". The New York Times.
  10. ↑ "33 CFR 117.739 - Passaic River". Code of Federal Regulations. Coast Guard, Department of Homeland Security. July 1, 2010. Archived from the original on August 12, 2014. Retrieved August 7, 2012. The draw of CONRAIL's Point-No-Point Railroad Bridge, mile 2.6, at Newark, shall open on signal if at least four hours' notice is given to the CONRAIL Movement Desk. After the signal to open is given, the opening may be delayed no more than ten minutes
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