Bayonne Bridge: A Novel Solution to Update its Overarching Design
As the lead designer in a design joint venture with WSP USA on the Bayonne Bridge Navigational Project, our HDR project team partnered with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to raise the clearance under the bridge to 215 feet within the existing arch span. Such a complex project had never been attempted before, but was necessary in order to meet the deadline for larger ships coming to market. Our solution enabled the PANYNJ to preserve the historic landmark steel arch structure while raising the roadway 64 feet, mitigating construction impacts to the surrounding community and minimizing environmental impacts on the waterway.
Three members of our project leadership team, along with two WSP team members, co-authored a fascinating, in-depth analysis of why and how the PANYNJ chose to implement a novel solution to repurpose the Bayonne Bridge for the 21st Century. The HDR co-authors are Joseph LoBuono, vice president and national technical director for major bridges; Chester Werts, professional associate and senior bridge engineer; and Christopher LaTuso, vice president and New York/New Jersey transportation program manager.
Learn more in their article, “Rising Above,” published in the November 2018 issue of “Civil Engineering,” The Magazine of the American Society of Civil Engineers. Access the article with your ASCE membership.
About the Bayonne Bridge
The Bayonne Bridge connects some 3.5 million vehicles annually traveling between Bayonne, New Jersey, and Staten Island, New York. It also provides an entrance for ships headed to the ports of Newark and Elizabeth, New Jersey, via the Kill Van Kull waterway — the largest container port network on the United States’ Eastern seaboard and the third largest in the Western Hemisphere.
