If you’re standing in the middle of a bike path to take a photo of a bridge, remember to stay alert for oncoming bicycles.
May 5, 2012
Another scary bridge
At the base of Campbell’s Pond, in the South Mountain Reservation, there is the foundation of an old bridge that you’re probably not supposed to walk on. There are no railings, and the wooden beams are rotting, and the “no trespassing” fence has collapsed, and there’s a 15-to-25-foot drop off one side.
But it seems pretty sturdy, and this fisherman is hanging out on it, so why not?
Initially, I thought it might have been part of the New Jersey West Line railroad, which was never finished but had some functional tracks that passed through the Reservation… unfortunately, this bridge is too far north to be a part of that. As such, I have no idea why this bridge was originally constructed, or for whom, or by whom. Any thoughts?
Like this:
May 3, 2012
Bridging the gap
I went on a group hike through the South Mountain Reservation this past weekend!
It started off about as you’d expect— a moderately slow tromp through the woods, with occasional stops to point out cool plants or conservation efforts or what-have-you— but as the day drew on, our guide (Lou) started getting creative with our route, and we ended up (among other places) crossing this barely-a-bridge built of concrete medians and a wobbly wooden board.
This barely-a-bridge was apparently constructed in 1991 as part of an Eagle Scout project.
It was a lot of fun! I wholeheartedly recommend.
These hikes are organized by the South Mountain Conservation [link, including future scheduled hikes] (which is not affiliated with the Essex County Park Commission) (but is still pretty cool).
Like this:
April 27, 2012
South Mountain overpass
Have you ever seen a bridle trail/ hiking trail that crosses over a highway? I mean, aside from the non-road-overpasses I’ve shown you recently. (NOBODY is supposed to use THOSE ones.) This is more in the “pedestrian overpass” category, which is totally normal, except that this is a hiking trail, not a downtown area, which is where you’d normally find pedestrian overpasses.
This one can be found in the South Mountain Reservation, allowing the Lenape Trail to safely cross South Orange Avenue.
Like this:
April 20, 2012
Nike Road: Part 2
Remember when I was rambling about Nike Road yesterday? Do you? Today I intend to ramble about the Nike Road bridge.
For twenty years after the Watchung Reservation Nike base was deactivated in 1963, as far as I can tell, both the launcher and the control area lay abandoned and unused.
And then, in the 1970s, I-78 came along.
The interstate was originally supposed to cut right through the Watchung Reservation, but the locals were definitively not okay with that. For years, a war raged between angry locals and equally angry road-builders.
Eventually, in the mid-1980s, they came to an agreement: I-78 would be built, but it would just skirt the northern edge of the Watchung Reservation (which necessitated blasting through the Second Watchung Mountain, which was a pain), and several non-road-bearing land bridges would be constructed to allow wildlife from the Watchung Reservation to migrate across the interstate without interfering with traffic.
One of those land bridges, as I’ve already shown you, was the bunny bridge.
The other land bridge is Nike Road, a little one-lane maintenance road that ran from Glenside Avenue to the Missile Tracking Radar Station.
While the lore says that Nike Road has always been part of the Nike missile station, the Nike Road bridge is dated 1985; if the missile station was deactivated in 1963, and I-78 wasn’t constructed until the 1980s, there was certainly no reason to build an overpass for an unused road. And there was certainly no need to line it with the same tall grass that’s found on the bunny bridge.
So as far as I can tell, Nike Road bridge was wholly intended to serve as an alternative to the bunny bridge for a wildlife migration land bridge… and maybe some maintenance vehicles from time to time, because why else would they go to the trouble of paving it?
(I haven’t seen this explicitly stated anywhere, so this is my own conclusion; if you have additional information either confirming or denying this, please leave a comment below!)
But as I mentioned yesterday, it seems like vehicles aren’t really a priority, because the road is currently obstructed by logs (which are, generally speaking, not very friendly to things on wheels).
And that’s that. For additional information, refer to my sources below.
References:
Alpert, S. (n.d.). “New Jersey Roads – Nikesite Rd., Union Co.” Alps’ Roads. http://www.alpsroads.net/roads/nj/nikesite/.
Alpert, S. (n.d.). “New Jersey Roads – I-78.” Alps’ Roads. http://www.alpsroads.net/roads/nj/i-78/.
Bender, D.E. (n.d.). “Nike Battery NY-73: Summit, NJ.” Nike Missiles and Missile Sites. http://alpha.fdu.edu/~bender/NY73.html.
Harpster, F. (2009). “Missiles in Mountainside: Nike Battery NY-73.” From the Hetfield House (newsletter). http://www.mountainsidehistory.org/files/HHnewsletter09final.pdf (PDF).
LostinJersey Blog. (2009). “Summit Nike base.” http://lostinjersey.wordpress.com/2009/03/19/summit-nike-base/.
Troeger, V.B. (2005). Images of America: Berkeley Heights Revisited. Arcadia Publishing: Charleston, SC. ISBN 0738537527.
Wikipedia. (2012). “Interstate 78 in New Jersey.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_78_in_New_Jersey#History.
Like this:
April 16, 2012
Bunny bridge!
Did you know this area has not just one unused overpass with no road on top, but several?
When plans for the construction of I-78 were unveiled, they were met with a LOT of opposition, because it needed to pass through the Watchung Reservation. And both sides butted heads for years: the section of I-78 from Exits 33-41 was completed in 1974, but the section through the Watchung Reservation (Exits 43-48) wasn’t opened until 1986.
In order to get locals to agree to the road construction at all, the roadmakers needed to make a few concessions:
- I-78 was shifted to the northern edge of the reservation, so as to disturb as little of the land as possible. The original plan was to barrel right through. (This northern route made construction a hell of a lot more difficult, since they had to blast through extensive portions of the Second Watchung Mountain.)
- Extra land bridges were constructed to allow animals to easily migrate to and from the Watchung Reservation without getting killed by interstate traffic.
One of the land bridges (shown above), colloquially called the “bunny bridge,” really is just a field of grass over I-78.
This is what it looks like when you’re approaching it going west to east:
(By the way: I’m having computer problems. I may miss some updates this week.)
References:
LostinJersey Blog. (2009). “The bunny bridge of Watchung.” http://lostinjersey.wordpress.com/2009/03/19/the-bunny-bridge-of-watchung/.
Wikipedia. (2012). “Interstate 78 in New Jersey.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_78_in_New_Jersey.
Like this:
March 21, 2012
Another pedestrian bridge
I see this pedestrian bridge from the train every day, and I’ve been wanting to go check it out for a while. High places always make for good vantage points!
Unfortunately, in this case, the surroundings were particularly uninteresting. Nothing photo-worthy at all.
Luckily, bridges themselves are usually good subjects! Good old bridges.
Like this:
February 19, 2012
Hanging out under bridges
This is probably a good fishing spot in the summer. I stumbled into some fishers last year right here (but I didn’t have the guts to ask for or take a portrait), and there are signs posted all over the area about trout fishing regulations. So. Apparently you can fish the Passaic River for trout, when the season is right.
Like this:
February 5, 2012
Over the river and through the woods
I am not 100% sure how old this railroad bridge over the Passaic River is, but I’d guess late 1830s, since this branch of the Morris & Essex railroad was completed in 1838.
Because of all the trees, it’s hard to get a clear shot of the bridge nowadays, but the “enduring town landmark” (Cunningham 1997, 34) has long been a popular subject for local photographers:
c. 1900
c. 1916
Date unknown, probably c.1950-1990
References:
Cunningham, J.T. (1997). Images of America: Chatham. Arcadia Publishing: Dover, NH. ISBN 0738545619.
Treese, L. (2006). Railroads of New Jersey: Fragments of the Past in the Garden State Landscape. Stackpole Books: Mechanicsburg, PA. ISBN 0811732606.
(Submitted to Sunday Bridges.)
Like this:
February 3, 2012
Abandoned overpass 2
As continued from yesterday… in case you’ve forgotten, I’m talkin’ about this mostly-completed cloverleaf interchange/ overpass that doesn’t connect to any roads.
Once you find the little gravel-tracks that were clearly supposed to eventually be paved roads, you can just follow them up and find yourself on top of Route 24.
The cloverleaves, though not paved, have been curbed and graded.
From the tire tracks, my preliminary guess was that Triborough Rd. is currently being used as some kind of service road, since it’s really close to some PSE&G power lines, and this would be a convenient way to get trucks across Route 24.
But I had a conversation with a nearby resident (Steve!) who was taking his dog for a walk; he assured me this was pretty much publicly accessible land, and apparently the locals are really into driving their ATVs through here. (I saw one too, and Wikipedia mentions it, so it must be true.) I dunno. It could be service vehicles AND all-terrain vehicles.
Why do I refer to the overpass as “Triborough Road” if there isn’t actually any road associated with it? Apparently, as you drive along NJ 24, there is a sign posted on the bridge that labels it as such.
Aaaaaand that’s all I know about the abandoned Triborough Road overpass.
Sources:
Alpert, S. (n.d.). “New Jersey Roads – NJ 24.” Alps’ Roads. http://www.alpsroads.net/roads/nj/nj_24/ and http://www.alpsroads.net/roads/nj/cr_609/s.html.
Anderson, S. (2006). “NJ 24 Freeway.” The Roads of Metro New York. http://www.nycroads.com/roads/NJ-24/.
Ca3ey. (2007). “Abandoned ‘highway’ in Morris County.” Weird U.S. Message Board. http://theweirdusmessageboard.yuku.com/topic/1137/abanonded-highway-in-morris-county#.TyXo7mM9naI.
Wikipedia. (2012). “New Jersey Route 24.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eisenhower_Parkway and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Jersey_Route_24.
