Washington Street Bridge

The Washington Street Bridge is a rare example of a highway pin-connected truss bridge. It is mostly a deck truss; however, the trusses are on the outside of the deck edges, instead of being under the deck, and they come up slightly past the deck height. This bridge is classified as a Pratt Truss, although it has been altered.

The bridge was originally built in 1895 as part of the reservoir project. Much of the old town, including the roads and bridges, was demolished or destroyed by the reservoir, so this bridge was built across the reservoir inlet. The dam was constructed, and the reservoir was filled from 1902 to 1904.

The bridge has had several modifications, beginning shortly after its completion. The original steel piers (some sources say stone) were encased in concrete in 1903 to protect them from water damage as the reservoir was filled. Interestingly, this was done by the Jersey City Water Supply Company because jurisdiction of the piers passed to their control, while the superstructure remained with the county.

The bridge was also modified several times to strengthen the trusses, The first modification was to add the middle chord and knee braces in 1909, when the plank deck was replaced with a concrete deck. Additional truss modifications were made at unknown dates. The deck was replaced with metal deck pans in 1958, and new steel stringers were added. The most significant alterations were done from 1987-1988, when the two northernmost spans (one deck truss span and one girder span) were replaced with two stringer spans supported on a concrete hammerhead pier. This was done to eliminate the difficult approach angle to the bridge. A new concrete deck was added, and various bolted repairs were made to strengthen weak truss members at this time.

The bridge was closed to traffic in 2005 when the Othmar Ammann Bridge was constructed. It is still open for pedestrians and cyclists to use.