Passaic River Roadway Lift Bridge

Completed in 1941 by American Bridge, the Passaic River Roadway Lift Bridge project consisted of fabricating and erecting a 16-span, 1,916-foot (584m) crossing of the Passaic River, including a 332’6″ (101m) tower drive vertical lift main span. This 64-foot (19.5m) wide roadway bridge accommodates four lanes of vehicular traffic and two 6-foot pedestrian walkways. Each of the two main span towers is constructed of 2-by-4-column braced units over the sidewalks, connected by portals over the roadway with trusses and girders at the tops. The 1,350-ton lift span is operated by 64 plow ropes rolling on 4-by-15-foot diameter sheaves, with 16 ropes per sheave. The liftspan machinery is tower drive, operated by a 200hp electric motor in each tower, turning a central herringbone gear reduction unit. This unit is connected through transverse shafting to operating pinions that engage racks bolted to the tower sheaves. The couplings adjacent to the side gear units are adjustable, allowing for synchronization of the liftspan shoes with an accuracy of .01″. Additionally, two 100hp tie motors are used to synchronize the span’s travel ends. The liftspan was erected on falsework adjacent to the bridge and floated in using tide/tidal power only.