Going Up! A Bridge Makes Way for Bigger Ships....

[Laxman]

Lost in all of the Bridgegate stories and the conflicts of interest involving the Port Authority chairman is a rarity in our country today-an actual investment in infrastructure. Despite David Samson's use of the project for his (and his client's) own personal advancement, a very ambitious project is set to get underway. Our country has not forgotten how to do these things, although it sure seems like it sometimes. I'm always in awe of big engineering projects and raising the Bayonne Bridge while keeping it open to traffic is pretty cool. Will our future be the Jetsons or the Flintstones? The willingness to undertake ambitious public works projects will play a big part in answering that question.

When it opened in 1931, the Bayonne Bridge — with its parabolic arch connecting Staten Island and Bayonne, N.J. — was an engineering marvel, boasting the longest unsupported span of any steel arch bridge in the world. But the height of its roadway, at 151 feet above the Kill Van Kull waterway, is increasingly insufficient for the large container ships now calling at the container ports of Staten Island and New Jersey.

To ensure continued access for these ships, and for the even bigger ones likely to arrive after the opening of an expanded Panama Canal next year, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is undertaking a $1.3 billion project to raise the roadway of the bridge by 64 feet, to a height of 215 feet above the water. While the project itself is all but unprecedented in bridge engineering, the trickiest part lies in completing the construction while the bridge remains open to traffic.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/23/nyregion/going-up-a-bridge-makes-way-for-bigger-ships.html?ref=nyregion&_r=0

[riqster]

1. Awesome news.

[Laxman]

2. Here Is A Video Animation Of The Project....

it all makes sense when you see the individual components of the project, but its still an impressive undertaking.

[smokey nj]

3. It's nice to see my beloved Bayonne mentioned in a positive news story.

Although I'm sure I would feel differently about this project if we still had to make the trip to Brooklyn for Sunday dinner with the in-laws.