Central Avenue Bridge

Craning your necks, can you imagine a bridge built over a canal, later becoming a bridge over a subway? That’s the Central Avenue Bridge. This isn’t just any bridge. It’s a survivor, a testament to Newark’s ever-changing landscape. The Central Avenue Bridge, built in 1908, originally spanned the Morris Canal. It’s a pony truss design, a style where the roadway sits atop the supporting structure. The bridge has a largest span of 112.9 feet and a total length of 118.1 feet, with a deck width of 47.2 feet. This bridge is unique. It’s the only bridge over Newark’s City Subway that wasn’t newly constructed when the subway was built. The Morris Canal, completed in 1831, was a vital waterway. Central Avenue, however, didn’t exist then. When the avenue was created, it intersected the canal at an awkward, skewed angle, necessitating a unique bridge design. Three trusses line the south side, while only one stands on the north. This asymmetry adds to the bridge’s unusual character. Central Avenue Bridge wasn’t always what you see today. Before 1908, another bridge stood in its place, strong enough to carry a street railway starting in 1890. The current Central Avenue Bridge replaced that earlier structure. The Morris Canal met its end in 1924. The space it occupied became the bed for Newark’s City Subway, which opened in 1935. Imagine trolley cars, rumbling down ramps from Central Avenue, diving into the subway below. These ramps, though no longer in use, are still visible today, ghostly reminders of a bygone era. Despite its age and visible wear, the Central Avenue Bridge continues to carry traffic. It bears the weight of history, literally. Its last inspection, in 2008, revealed its condition. The deck and substructure received a “fair” rating, while the superstructure was deemed “poor.” Overall, the bridge was declared “structurally deficient,” with a sufficiency rating of 49.4 out of 100. The Central Avenue Bridge isn’t just steel and concrete. It’s a story of adaptation and change, reflecting Newark’s growth and evolution. It stands as a quirky landmark, a bridge between the past and the present.