Raising the Roadway

Raising the Roadway. A Higher Roadway for Taller Ships. , When the Bayonne Bridge opened in 1931, the 151-foot clearance beneath the bridge allowed the world's biggest ships to pass underneath. Shipping has changed drastically since then, and certain ships have gotten much larger. The new roadway, completed in 2019, has a 215-foot clearance, enabling the bridge to once again accommodate some of the world's largest ships, including a new standard for container ships., "New Panamax" , The Bayonne Bridge was originally designed with a roadway height to accommodate the largest U.S. Navy ships of the time. When container ships were introduced in the 1950s, their maximum size was regulated by specifications issued by the Panama Canal Authority. A ship meeting the specifications for sailing through the Panama Canal is called a "Panamax" ship, meaning it is the maximum size ship permitted through the canal. In 2016, after years of reconstruction, the Panama Canal re-opened, enabling larger ships to pass through, and creating a "New Panamax" standard., Raise the Roadway , The "New Panamax" ships were too large to call on the Ports of Newark, Elizabeth and Howland Hook because they could not fit under the Bayonne Bridge. To meet the new specifications, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the bi-state entity responsible for maintaining the Bayonne Bridge , as well as the competitiveness of the Ports of New York and New Jersey , elected to reconstruct the bridge. The resulting "Raise the Roadway" project completed in 2019, upgraded the bridge and elevated its roadway to 215 feet above the water, allowing "New Panamax" ships to pass beneath. Concurrently, the Port Authority partnered with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as the local sponsor to deepen the New York Harbor federal channel to 50 feet. This was completed in 2016., A Modern Construction Marvel , To keep vehicular traffic moving over the bridge during the "Raise the Roadway" project, construction and demolition activities were carefully staged. New suspension cables were installed, and then a new elevated northbound roadway was constructed. New support columns and the approach roadways were constructed using concrete segments that were prefabricated in Virginia and delivered to the site. Specifically built gantry cranes were used to install these roadway segments once the new support columns were erected. The elevated northbound lanes were built first and completed in 2017. All traffic was shifted to these elevated lanes while the southbound lanes were constructed. This allowed traffic to flow over the bridge during construction, and ships to pass beneath. The Raise the Roadway Project was completed in 2019.