One of the longest steel arch bridges in the world, the Bayonne Bridge spans the Kill Van Kull to link Bayonne, New Jersey, with the Port Richmond area of Staten Island, New York. It is one of the most spectacular bridges in the metropolitan area, with a mid-span clearance of 150 feet that permits ocean-going vessels to use this entrance to Port Newark and the Elizabeth-Port Authority Marine Terminal without interference.

This bridge is an important part of the regional system of arterial highways. On Staten Island, it leads to the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge via the Martin Luther King, Jr. Expressway and the eastbound Staten Island Expressway (1-278). It also leads to the Goethals Bridge and Outerbridge Crossing via the westbound Staten Island Expressway.

The Bayonne Bridge was awarded the prize for the most beautiful steel arch bridge of 1931 by the American Institute for Steel Construction. The design of the arch features a slender, slightly tapered hyperbolic curve over the roadway. The trusses of the arch are a pleasing pattern of repetitive regular triangles.

 

Opened to Traffic: November 15, 1931
Length of Arch Span: 1,675 feet
Length of New Jersey Viaduct: 3,010 feet
Length of Staten Island Viaduct: 2,010 feet
Total Length of Elevated Structure: 6,695 feet
Total Length of Bridge: 5,780 feet
Width of Bridge: 85 feet
Number of Traffic Lanes: 4 lanes
Width of Roadway: 40 feet
Channel Clearance of Bridge at Mid-Span: 151 feet
Height of Arch Above Water at Crown: 325 feet
Cost of original structure: $13,000,000
PA investment as of December 31, 2007: $218,677,000
Number of Toll Lanes: 4

2007 Traffic Volumes
Total eastbound traffic: 3,984,000 vehicles
Total traffic (both directions): 7,968,000 vehicles

Click here to download the Bayonne Bridge fact card (PDF).
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There is a pedestrian sidewalk at the Bayonne Bridge. However, due to safety concerns, bicycle riders are required to walk their bicycles across the bridge.