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CivilPotato t1_ixig5qg wrote

Hi! I am actually a maintenance supervisor for this bridge (and all state owned movable bridges in NJ). AMA!
To answer some questions I already see: 1) This bridge opens on-call from 7am to 11pm, with a 2-hour call time between 11pm and 7am.
2) We limit traffic stops to a max of 15 minutes (over that and things get complicated), but we try to keep openings to as short as possible.
3) This time of year we average only a few boat openings a month, but with the reconstruction of the Potral bridge up-river from us we're seeing a lot more opening requests.

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_homegrown t1_ixj32ld wrote

Were you working back in '05? What kind of safeguards are in place now to make sure that never happens again?

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CivilPotato t1_ixj96ry wrote

I was not, but my whole team exists largely in part due to the '05 tragedy. Since '05 an enormous amount of time and money has been invested in these bridges and their safety systems. It's a little too complicated to explain here (and would probably be a breach of security) but the safety interlock systems on these bridges today are extreme robust compared to those of '05.

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_homegrown t1_ixk7ol1 wrote

Thanks for sharing what you could. Keep up the good work!

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JCwhatimsayin OP t1_ixnvp1r wrote

For anyone wondering, the tragedy referenced here is the death of two JC police officers. From the Wikipedia entry:

On December 25, 2005, two Jersey City police officers died while on duty after their rescue vehicle plunged into the river from the bridge. Shawn Carson and Robert Nguyen were summoned by colleagues to bring additional flares to the western approach to the bridge to better regulate traffic. Extreme weather conditions had caused poor visibility, and the gate that normally lowers when the bridge is in the open position had been malfunctioning for some time. The officers drove across the bridge and delivered the flares. They did not know that the lift span had then been raised, and as they were making their return trip, their vehicle went over the edge of the open bridge. While the body of Carsen was recovered approximately 90 minutes after the accident, that of Nguyen was not found until December 29. After an investigation the bridgetenders were cleared of any wrongdoing in January 2006. According to the NJDOT, the barrier was experiencing continuous problems due to an earlier accident, and the agency was waiting for replacement equipment to do repairs. Unsatisfied with the agency's findings, the Jersey City Police found that the NJDOT, knowing that there were problems, should not have relied on local police for public safety. A new barrier gate was eventually installed in June 2006. On May 9, 2007, the New Jersey Legislature adopted a joint resolution designating the crossing the "Shawn Carson and Robert Nguyen Memorial Bridge".

If you cross this bridge on the sidewalk or drive slowly, you will see the sign honoring them. https://imgur.com/o3ypwkD.jpg

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JCwhatimsayin OP t1_ixj58t8 wrote

Fascinating! And thank you so much for weighing in! How many people are staffed on this bridge during operating hours? Does it take more than one person to safely operate it? I had no idea this bridge was so disruptive to so many commuters. With a two hour call time, would you be able to precisely establish clocks/electronic counting down to openings on the approach to these bridges or even send the data to Google Maps/Waze in real time? If river traffic is set to increase, this could be pretty helpful.

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CivilPotato t1_ixjadri wrote

On paper this bridge could be operated by one individual, but in reality it's a 2-4 person job. Since this road is so busy, and this bridge is so old, roadway issues, electrical, and mechanical malfunctions are not uncommon, and troubleshooting such a large structure is always easier with more people. The call out time operation / notification system you're talking about is a neat idea that I've seen used in other states. Unfortunately the gears of government grind very slowly. It was a two-year effort to change this bridge to a 2-hour call out time from 11pm to 7am. Right now, marine pilots just aren't required to call ahead, so they don't.

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good4y0u t1_ixl9jzn wrote

This is awesome. I was happy to see it get used, glad to see it's taken care of.

What do you think of the new Witt Penn Bridge ?

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CivilPotato t1_ixmag5u wrote

Lol that's a delicate subject. The bridge itself is beautiful, and I am excited to take responsibility for it when the construction contract is done. That being said, there were many decisions made during design that us maintenance guys were not happy about. Either way, it will be a vast improvement from the old Wittpenn bridge.

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good4y0u t1_ixpbh7t wrote

Thanks for the awesome answer! Happy Thanksgiving

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JCwhatimsayin OP t1_ixmujdn wrote

Do you have any insight into how the bike/pedestrian path on the Wittpen will eventually be laid out? It's so hard to tell from the contract documents, but I've been over it on foot and bike a couple of times and it seems like they will have everyone on the sidewalk on the South side of the bridge? Or will there be a barrier-protected bike lane too?

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CivilPotato t1_ixn5a4m wrote

I don't have a good answer for that one. I do know that there will be no sidewalk on the north side (except for a small section for the bridge operators). I'm pretty sure the current design has no plan for a bike lane. Usually bike lanes get added to the shoulder, so if there isn't one at completion there might be one down the line.

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parallel_wall t1_ixk0mp5 wrote

I remember back a few years ago, I was driving west on Route 3 (North Bergen or Secaucus), it was late night, and there was a red light, but not barrier, and I stop the car and there was a truck that was approaching from behind and honked me, and I immediately moved. I thought it was a portal bridge that was gonna open. What was that? A portal bridge? Or what else could be?

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TrafficSNAFU t1_ixwc2vi wrote

I know NJDOT has been doing a lot test lifts of the new NJ 7/Witpenn Bridge, how is that work progressing?

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CivilPotato t1_ixxl9jq wrote

I'm not directly involved with the contract that's building that bridge, but they have their work cut out for them. There are a lot of tests that need to be passed before the bridge is officially accepted by the state. It could be done in a few months, or over a year, it's really hard to say.

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ArlingtonHeights t1_ixiti7p wrote

Only government would think it’s a good idea to have thousands of people delayed during rush hour for 15 minutes for a crew of ten people on a boat. Brilliant. Yet it’s actually illegal to idle your car in jersey for more than 3 minutes. Sigh.

There should be rush hour black out times.

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CivilPotato t1_ixj28za wrote

It actually ties back to US Coast Guard and maritime law. For the last 100 years or so it was determined that boats had the right-of-way because they existed first, plus it can take a literal mile to stop a full sized tanker.
However, we recently had a meeting with one of the USCG district commanders and this rule is in the process of changing, largely because of the reasons you mentioned.
We do have black out time for testing/maintenance openings during rush hour, but boats can still technically request an opening during rush hour. It's a pain for us too.

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