Upper Hack Lift

{{Infobox bridge

|bridge_name= Upper Hack Lift

|image= NJT Train 1117 Crossing the Upper Hack Lift Bridge.jpg

|image_size=300

|caption= Upper Hack Lift

|official_name= Upper Hack Bridge

|also_known_as= Upper Hackensack Lift, Erie Lift, West Secaucus Bridge

|carries= One track of NJ Transit Main Line

|crosses= Hackensack River

|locale= Secaucus and Lyndhurst, New Jersey

|maint= NJ Transit

|id=

|design= Lift bridge

|mainspan= 127 feet

|length=

|width=

|clearance=

|below= 8 ft (lowered); 110 ft (raised)

|traffic=

|open= March 1959

|coordinates={{Coord|40.778015|-74.089906|region:US_type:landmark|display=inline,title|name=Upper Hack Lift Bridge}}

}}

Upper Hack Lift is a lift bridge carrying the New Jersey Transit Main Line across the Hackensack River at mile 6.9 between Secaucus, New Jersey and Lyndhurst.

History

File:UpperHackLift.jpg

It was built by the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad in 1958 and completed in March 1959Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad, 1958 Annual Report http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/el/before/dlw-ar-58.html to serve the Boonton Branch and replaced an older swing span from 1901 on the site, which had been damaged by shifting currents. The new single-track lift bridge cost $5.5 million,{{Taber-DLW-20th-1|page=139}} financed through a five-year bank loan.Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad 1958 Annual Report

Following a 1963 route realignment, Erie Main Line service began using the bridge, with Erie Lackawanna, NJDOT and later NJ Transit Main Line commuter service continuing to use the route. It was repainted in 1994 to its current turquoise blue color.

Upper Hack is the only single-track lift bridge in New Jersey (excluding the Arthur Kill Vertical Lift Bridge connecting to Staten Island). It is visible to motorists on the New Jersey Turnpike's western spur between Interchanges 15W and 16W.

Remnants of the older swing span are visible just to the north of the current lift span, as concrete abutments and piers remain.Wong, Kevin (1999). [http://7train.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=782156 "Abutment for former Lackawanna swing span by Upper Hack."] Photograph.

The current drawbridge schedule at Upper Hack (as stated by U.S. Coast Guard, 33 CFR 117.723) allows the bridge to open on signal unless the bridge tender is at the nearby HX Draw on the Bergen County Line upstream.([http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/11sep20071500/edocket.access.gpo.gov/cfr_2007/julqtr/33cfr117.723.htm 2])

References

External links

[http://7train.rrpicturearchives.net/archivethumbs.aspx?id=23150 Movable Railroad Bridges of New Jersey-photo catalog]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20040706074039/http://www.geocities.com/transit383/bridges.html Movable Railroad Bridges of New Jersey]
[http://7train.rrpicturearchives.net/archivethumbs.aspx?id=10959 Upper Hack Lift photo gallery]
[http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/11sep20071500/edocket.access.gpo.gov/cfr_2007/julqtr/33cfr117.723.htm U.S. Government Printing Office: DRAWBRIDGE OPERATION REGULATIONS-Hackensack River (Code of Federal Regulations 33 CFR 117.723)]
[http://eorthe.com/02a_e_hack/14_lift.htm Erie Lift (Upper Hack) photos and notes]

{{Crossings navbox

|structure = Crossings

|place = Hackensack River

|bridge = Upper Hack Lift

|bridge signs =

|upstream = HX Draw

|upstream signs =

|downstream = DB Draw

|downstream signs =

}}

Category:Vertical lift bridges in New Jersey

Category:Railroad bridges in New Jersey