Bayonne Bridge causes commerce logjam

Too low to accommodate the growing container ships that must pass underneath
Tight fit Squeezing a huge container ship underneath the Bayonne Bridge can be a tidal waiting game. When the Bayonne Bridge was opened in 1931, its designer, Othmar H. Ammann,
Even at low tide, a massive could never have imagined his graceful arch would one day be a roadblock to commerce at the Port of New York and New Jersey. Some of the larger ships that call at local
container ship barely makes
ports already face a tight fit underneath the roadway. Some shipping companies are timing their arrival for low tide, when there are five extra feet of clearance
it under the Bayonne Bridge
without damaging its to squeeze through. The wait for the tides means delays and higher costs, and makes local ports less attractive for commerce. If the height limitation is not addressed
smokestack — or in time for the arrival of a larger class of ships, currently under construction around the world, it could mean the loss of untold millions in business at local ports.
the bridge. Low tide
provides only five
feet of leeway.

MSC DANIELA
Floating just a few feet 14,000 TEU*
REGINA MAERSK higher at high tide, the
6,000 TEU* LOW TIDE HIGH TIDE Keel-to mast height 221 feet.
same ship would not Ships of this scale are too
Keel-to mast height 198 feet. 156 feet 151 feet be able to pass
At low tide, this ship clearance large to clear the bridge
clearance underneath. even at low tide.
can pass under the bridge.

Sea level
20 26
30 30
50 50
* TEU (Twenty-foot-equivalent units) is the measure of a ship’s capacity to carry cargo containers STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE/ROXANNE RICKER