The Hackensack River courses southward for approximately in Rockland County, New York in the north and Bergen and Hudson counties in northeastern New Jersey to the south, forming the border of the latter two for part of its length. Its source is in New City, New York. The river empties into Newark Bay between Kearny Point in South Kearny and Droyer's Point in Jersey City.
The area was settled by Bergen Dutch who established regular water crossings at Douwe's Ferry and Little Ferry. The first bridge crossing of the Hackensack was at Demarest Landing (now Old Bridge Road), built in 1724, which was replaced by that at New Bridge Landing in 1745. The first railroad crossing was completed by the NJRR in 1834, and was soon followed by many others. By the early 1900s conflicts between rail and maritime traffic led to calls for changes in regulations giving priority to trains.
At one time, Van Buskirk Island, created in 1804, was the head of navigation, but freshwater flow in the Hackensack has been diminished by construction of dams, namely the Oradell (1923), the DeForest (1952), and the Tappan (1972). The river is now tidally influenced to the island. The Hackensack has only been channelized to Milepoint 3.5 at the Riverbend in Hudson County. The accumulation of silt has diminished the depth, and thus navigability, of the Lower Hackensack. which at one time was a major waterway for towboats and river barges in the Port of New York and New Jersey.
Since 1999, the bridge at Milepoint 16.3 is the most upstream bridge required by the Code of Federal Regulations to open on request, though no requests have made since 1994. The Lower Hackensack remains partially in use for commercial maritime traffic, notably for sewage sludge for treatment at a facility on the bay. (Coal deliveries to the Hudson Generating Station ended upon the facilities closure). Downstream of the power plant site, vehicular moveable bridges (at MP 1.8 and MP 3.1) are required at all times to open on demand. and rail crossings to open on 1-hour notice. New crossings included the replacement the Wittpenn Bridge, a vehicular bridge at MP 3.1 with a new vertical lift bridge and replacement the Portal Bridge, a rail swing bridge at MP 5.0, with a through arch bridge called Portal North Bridge Crossings Mile Crossing Image Carried/Carries Location Coordinates NotesHD Draw (defunct) Newark and New York Branch (CNJ)Jersey City & Kearny Point 1.7 Newark Plank Road (defunct) PS 1.8 Lincoln Highway Hackensack River Bridge (Shawn Carson and Robert Nguyen Memorial Bridge)milepoint 1.72Lincoln HighwayEast Coast GreenwayPulaski SkywayPATH Lift BridgePRR and H&MPATHJersey City & Kearny MeadowsHarsimus Branch Lift aka Hack Freight Railroad Bridge33CFR117.723(c)PRRConrail (North Jersey Shared Assets) NSCSX 3.1Wittpenn Bridgeoriginal alignment of the Newark TurnpikeWittpenn Bridge New Jersey Railroad(defunct) PRR3.4 Lower Hack Lift DL&WMorris and Essex Lines (NJT) Riverbend 5.0Portal BridgePRRNortheast CorridorAmtrak and NJTSecaucus Junction & Kearny MeadowsPortal South South (planned) Gateway ProjectPortal North Bridge Northeast CorridorGateway Project Lewandowski Hackensack River Bridge (Eastern Spur)Snake Hill & Kearny Meadows DB Draw (unused)New York and Greenwood Lake Railroad (Erie)Boonton Line (NJT)NSEssex–Hudson Greenway 6.9 Upper Hack Lift DL&W Boonton Line (1959-1963) Erie/NJ Transit Main Line (NJT)Port Jervis Line (MNCR)MP 4.95Harmon Cove & Kingsland NJT #129 Lackawanna Swing Bridge (defunct) DL&W 7.7 HX Drawaka The Jacknife Bergen County Line (NJT)Pascack Valley Line (NJT)Meadowlands Rail Line (NJT)Port Jervis Line (MNCR) former Erie Main LineMP 5.48Harmon Cove & Meadowlands Sports Complex NJT # Route 3 East Secaucus & Meadowlands Sports ComplexRoute 3 West(Medgar Evers Bridge)Paterson Plank Road (defunct)Jersey City, Hoboken and Rutherford Electric RailwayPublic ServiceSecaucus North End & Meadowlands Sports Complex Western Spur Bridge (Western Spur) Carlstadt & Ridgefield Park Bergen Turnpike (aka Hackensack Plank Road) (defunct)Public ServiceRidgefield Park & Little Ferry14.0Route 46 Hackensack River Bridge(aka S46 Bridge & Winant Avenue Bridge) Interstate 80Bogota & Hackensack16.3Court Street Bridge(Harold J. Dillard Memorial Bridge)Court Street - West Fort Lee Road16.2New York, Susquehanna and Western RailwayNYS&W Midtown Bridgeaka Salem Street Bridge(Ryan Memorial Bridge)bridgesnyc: Midtown Bridge (Hackensack and Bogota) West Main Streetoriginally carried PS and predecessor streetcars linesAnderson Street Bridgeaka Cedar Lane BridgeEast Anderson Street - Cedar LaneTeaneck & HackensackFairleigh Dickinson University FootbridgeRoute 4Swing Bridge at New Bridge LandingBuilt 1889. to replace earlier 1744 sliding drawbridge. Main Street (no cars)New Bridge Landing River Edge, Teaneck, New MilfordNew Bridge RoadNew Milford & River EdgeRiver Edge Avenue BridgeNew Milford Avenue Bridge(Merschrod Memorial Bridge)New MilfordElm Street Bridgepart of the New Milford Plant of the Hackensack Water CompanyPhoenix column Pratt pony trussNew Milford & Oradell Oradell Avenue BridgeOradellOradell Reservoir DamOradell Old Hook Road Bridge Emerson, Harrington Park & Closter Harriot Avenue Bridge River Vale & Harrington Park Westwood Avenue Bridge River Vale & Old Tappan New Jersey Old Tappan Road Lake Tappan Dam footbridge Poplar Road – Washington Avenue Veterans Memorial Drive New York StatePearl River Convent Road Pearl River & Blauvelt Blauvelt Road Palisades Interstate Parkway Fifth Avenue Former Erie Railroad Bridge Western Highway West Nyack River Subdivision (CSX) West Shore Railroad (NYC)River Line (Conrail) New York State Route 59 New York Thruway West Nyack & Bardonia Old Mill RoadBardonia Lake DeForest Dam Congers Road Causeway across Lake DeForest New City & Congers Ridge Road New City New York State Route 304 Haverstraw Road Old Route 304
Abbreviations
CNJ=Central Railroad of New Jersey CR=County Road, County Route CSXT=CSX Transportation DL&W=Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Erie=Erie Railroad H&M=Hudson and Manhattan Railroad MNCR=Metro-North Railroad MP=mile point NYC=New York Central Railroad NJDOT=New Jersey Department of Transportation NJT=New Jersey Transit NYS&W=New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway NS=Norfolk Southern Railway PATH=Port Authority Trans-Hudson PRR=Pennsylvania Railroad PS=Public Service Railway USGS=United States Geological Survey
See also New Milford Plant of the Hackensack Water Company Overpeck Creek Hackensack River Greenway Geography of New York–New Jersey Harbor Estuary Timeline of Jersey City, New Jersey-area railroads List of bridges, tunnels, and cuts in Hudson County, New Jersey List of crossings of the Lower Passaic River List of crossings of the Upper Passaic River List of NJ Transit moveable bridges List of fixed crossings of the North River (Hudson River)
References
Sources
External links
Signals North Jersey.com: Bridges are man-made marvels of the Hackensack River