World War Memorial Bridge Across Great Egg Harbor Bay

World War Memorial Bridge Across Great Egg Harbor Bay. Historical Overview of Transportation. , Transportation and the Development of Tourism in Ocean City , Ocean City was founded in 1879 as a permanent community and seaside Christian resort where residents and summer visitors could enjoy physical and spiritual rejuvenation at the shore in a wholesome environment. Since that time, Ocean City's transportation infrastructure has evolved in response to technological advancements in order to provide the resort with access that was both convenient and affordable for middle class tourists., Steam ferries carried the first tourists to Ocean City (Figure 1). Passengers from Some Point and Longport arrived at a ferry landing on Second Street. Access to Ocean City ferries was improved in 1880, when a rail line was extended from Pleasantville to Somers Point (Figure 2). City managers expended $70,000 in subsidies to the West Jersey Railroad during the 1880s in order to build a direct rail connection to Ocean City from the south via Sea Isle City. In the 1890s, electric streetcar lines were built in Ocean City and Somers Point, but it was not until 1907 that the Shore Fast Line built a causeway across Great Egg Harbor Bay (Figure 3). This provided the first direct rail link between Somers Point and Ocean City. In response to growing automobile use, a privately owned, two lane timber automobile causeway was completed in 1914 (Figure 7). Both causeways featured low-level moveable spans over Ship Channel Beach Thorofare (Figure 6). The rail bridge used swing spans while the automobile bridge featured Scherzer rolling lift spans (a patented type of double leaf drawbridge)., The completion of the Intercoastal Waterway in 1915 and the proliferation of the automobile in the 1920's made the original 1914 automobile causeway inadequate for the increased automobile an marine traffic. The replacement structure, called the World War Memorial Bridge, was designed both wider and higher than the 1914 structure. Further state sponsored transportation development, such as the completion of the Garden State Parkway in the 1950s, connecting New Jersey's northern metropolitan and southern coastal regions, increased accessibility to Ocean City making the World War Memorial Bridge an even more critical link in New Jersey's transportation network. The World War Memorial Bridge's replacement was designed with high-level, fixed-span structures in order to eliminate bridge delays caused by marine traffic and bridge closures caused by flooding. the new causeway's design, utilizing higher and fewer piers, has the added benefit of restoring portions of the Great Egg Harbor Bay viewshed. The new causeway also incorporates a multi-use walkway over its entire length providing unprecedented pedestrian and bicycle access between Ocean City and Somers Point as well as a multitude of recreational facilities on the bay islands.