Port Jersey

Port Jersey

Port Jersey, with the Statue of Liberty in the foreground

Port Jersey, with the Statue of Liberty in the foreground
Official name Port Jersey Port Authority Marine Terminal
Type Intermodal freight transport facility
Locale Bayonne & Jersey City
New Jersey
Operator Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
New York New Jersey Rail, LLC
Conrail Shared Assets Operations
GCT Bayonne, LP
Clearance below 50 feet (15 m)
Coordinates 40°40′16″N 74°04′26″W / 40.671°N 74.074°W / 40.671; -74.074Coordinates: 40°40′16″N 74°04′26″W / 40.671°N 74.074°W / 40.671; -74.074
Looking northwest across MOTBY, Port Jersey, Greenville Yard, and Claremont Terminal, with USS Intrepid in foreground
The route of a proposed Cross-Harbor Rail Tunnel across the Upper New York Bay. Port Jersey is the upper of two man-made piers extending into the bay, the lower being MOTBY
Looking north to Claremont Terminal in July 2010, where a new Willis Avenue Bridge received finishing touches before replacing the older Harlem River crossing.[1]
1912 PRR map showing the Greenville Terminal and its car float operations, also the current crossing
Bridge No. 14, decades later, partially collapsed

The Port Jersey Port Authority Marine Terminal, commonly abbreviated as the Port Jersey Marine Terminal or simply Port Jersey, is an intermodal freight transport facility that includes a container terminal located on the Upper New York Bay in the Port of New York and New Jersey. The municipal border of the Hudson County, New Jersey cities of Jersey City and Bayonne runs along the long pier extending into the bay.[2] The north end of the facility houses the Greenville Yard, a rail yard located on a manmade peninsula that was built in the early 1900s by the Pennsylvania Railroad,[3][4] in addition to the Claremont Terminal, once part of the Lehigh Valley Terminal Railway operations. The central area of the facility contains GCT Bayonne, a major post-panamax shipping facility operated by Global Container Terminals that underwent a major expansion in June 2014.[5][6]

Most of Port Jersey is part of United States Foreign-Trade Zone 49.[7] The facility was acquired by the Port Authority in July 2010.[8][9] It is one of the few areas on the Bergen Neck peninsula where freight rail lines are still in use.[10][11][12] Most of the area in and around the facility is restricted, though a walkway along its northern side is accessible to the general public and may eventually connect with the Hudson River Waterfront Walkway. A very small bird sanctuary (specifically for the least tern)[13] is also located on the promenade.

A canal to the south of Port Jersey separates it from the Peninsula at Bayonne Harbor, a multi-use development area that is home to the Cape Liberty Cruise Port one of the New York metropolitan area's three cruise ship terminals. The peninsula was formerly the Military Ocean Terminal at Bayonne (MOTBY), a former military base. Deepening of the Port Jersey Channel to 50 feet was authorized by the Army Corps of Engineers in 2010.[14][15][16]

In October 2010, the Port Authority, announced plans to develop ExpressRail Port Jersey, allowing for more transfers to trains, and thus reducing transfers to trucks.[17] Trains will use a renovated National Docks Secondary freight line to access the national network, part of the Liberty Freight Corridor.[18] There are also plans for the expansion of Exit 14A on the Newark Bay Extension of the New Jersey Turnpike in anticipation of increase demand for truck traffic.[19]

Greenville Yard

The Greenville Yard takes its name from the former town of Greenville which became part of Jersey City in the 1860s and lie east of New Jersey Route 185. The yard also lends its name to a nearby industrial park and distribution center.[20] The yard was first developed in 1904 by the Pennsylvania Railroad, and opened with three based on designs of their bridges at Harsimus Cove. They were referred to as No.11, No.12, and No.13. A number of different organizations were involved in its construction: the Steele & Condict Company of New Jersey manufactured the bridge mechanisms, Henry Steers, Inc. did the foundation, pile racks, bridges, and aprons, while the Cooper-Wigand-Cooke Company and the R.P. & J.H. Staats Company of New York jointly erected the bridge superstructure and transfer machinery housing. The new designs utilized electric motors and controls, and a live load counterweight system. PRR set the industry standard for electrified lift bridges with this design; virtually identical bridges were built in the Port of New York and New Jersey area by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad at their Oak Point Yard in 1908, and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad at their St. George, Staten Island terminal in 1912. A fourth bridge, No.14, was added in 1910, and a fifth, No.10, in 1924. This was constructed by the Schuylkill Bridge Works Division of the Lewis F. Shoemaker & Company.

The New York New Jersey Rail, LLC, (formerly the New York Cross Harbor Railroad), transfers freight cars across the bay to the Bush Terminal Yard in Brooklyn, New York. This car float operation reduces transfer time since they are not permitted to use New York Tunnel Extension under the Hudson River, Manhattan, and East River. Overland must they cross the Hudson 140 miles (225 km) to the north at Selkirk, New York, making a detour known as the "Selkirk hurdle." NYNJ leases approximately 27 acres (11 ha) of land at Conrail's Greenville Yard, where it connects with two Class I railroads – CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern Railway – both use Conrail's North Jersey Shared Assets Area Access to the national freight rail network and Canadian Pacific Railway is possible via the Lehigh Valley Railroad Bridge to the west or the Long Dock Tunnel to the northwest.

History

On January 1, 1931, a short-circuit caused the wooden superstructure of Bridge No.10 to ignite. Within 15 minutes, two more superstructures and the wooden transfer house were ablaze. As there were no roads to the yard, land-based firefighters had to be brought in a mile by rail. There were 50 firefighters and land, and 20 tugs and fire boats. The only injury reported was a fractured ankle, when the employee jumped down a burning stairwell to survive. The car float and 25 cars owned by the NYNH&H that were docked at Bridge No.10 were a total loss, while three other car floats that sustained varying damage were salvageable. All five bridges were put out of service, and freight was rerouted through PRR's other facilities in Harsimus Cove and Exchange Place, in addition to the Lehigh Valley Railroad's terminal on the Morris Canal Basin. The fire cost the PRR $500,000 and $1,000,000, which in the 2014 value of the dollar would be between $7,772,000 and $15,550,000. It put unemployed 300 workers, although within two days they were put to work repairing bridges at Greenville or working at other PRR yards in the area. The American Bridge Company was contracted to rebuild the bridges, and were built functionally identical to the previous bridges; the design of the bridges were still extremely efficient, and the only major change was the elimination of any wood. Bridges Nos. 10, 13, and 14 were initially repaired, with No.12 being cleared for rebuilding in 1939. Because of World War II, however, the plan was suspended indefinitely. A new bridge, No.9, was later put into service in November 9, 1943 to satisfy traffic being generated by the Brooklyn Navy Yard and Brooklyn Army Terminal across the bay. These two facilities were most often the last place troops and supplies went before embarking to Europe.[21]

In May 2010, the Port Authority announced that it would purchase the Greenville Yard and build a new barge-to-rail facility there, as well as improving the existing rail car float system. The barge-to-rail facility is expected to handle an estimated 60,000 to 90,000 containers of solid waste per year from New York City, eliminating up to 360,000 trash truck trips a year. The authority's board authorized $118.1 million for the overall project.[22][23] The New Jersey Department of Transportation allocated more than $70 million in it 2012 fiscal budget for improvement to the barge and bridge operations.[24]

In November 2011, the Port Authority contracted HDR, Inc. as prime design consultant. Work includes rehabilitating the railyard and waterfront structures, including a rail barge and transfer bridge, demolishing two other bridges, designing a new barge and two new bridges, and adding 10,000 feet of track. The project is expected to take 5 years.[25][26] The site will include a large new intermodal rail terminal to be called ExpressRail Port Jersey.

On October 29, 2012, Hurricane Sandy caused major damage to the Greenville facility, undermining the float bridge gantries and sinking one of the car floats. The 81-year-old gantry structures were in such bad condition that they had to be demolished. The working float bridge at Bush Terminal was transferred by barge to Greenville to restore rail float service. Previously plans called for the gantries to be demolished in phases and replaced by two new float bridges and a barge transfer station.[27]

On September 17, 2014, the Port Authority announced that it was funding a major redevelopment of the Greenville Yard, to include a new ExpressRail container terminal servicing the Global Marine Terminal. About 10,000 feet of working track, 32,000 feet of support track and switches, along with infrastructure to support rail-mounted gantry cranes, will be constructed. The new terminal will initially support 125,000 container lifts a year. The Port Authority will also build two new rail to barge transfer bridges, purchase two new car float barges, each with 18 rail car capacity, and buy four new ultra low emission locomotives, replacing antiquated units. Of the project’s $356 million cost, $320 million will be paid by the Port Authority, with the remainder coming from stakeholders. The new facility is expected to become operational in July 2016.[28][29]

Wind turbines

In 2010 the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey announced its intentions to build a five tower wind farm at Port Jersey within three years.[30][31] The windfarm is part of a larger plan to expand the container port on the manmade peninsula to accommodate post-panamax ships.[32] In May 2012, Global Container Terminals announced detailed plan of the port extension. It included the installation of 9 wind turbines in order to meet a zero emissions footprint of their crane operation during periods of wind power generation.[33]

Other PANYNJ container terminals

The other significant seaport terminals under the auspices of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey are:

See also

References

  1. ↑ "New Willis Avenue Bridge arrives at Jersey City marine facility for finishing touches - signs will be installed - before being installed in Bronx next month". NJ.com. 2010-07-15. Retrieved 2011-02-14.
  2. ↑ Hudson County New Jersey Street Map. Hagstrom Map Company, Inc. 2008. ISBN 0-88097-763-9.
  3. ↑ New York Cross Harbor Railraid website with description of Greenville Yard
  4. ↑ US Army Corp of Engineers
  5. ↑ Conte, Michaelangelo (June 19, 2014). "Global Container Terminals in Jersey City unveils $325M expansion project". The Jersey Journal. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
  6. ↑ Sullivan, Al (June 22, 2014). "JC hosts high tech container port Global unveils most modern facility in the nation". Hudson Reporter. Retrieved June 28, 2014.
  7. ↑ PANYNJ FTZ 49
  8. ↑ "Press Release Article - Port Authority of NY & NJ". Panynj.gov. Retrieved 2011-02-14.
  9. ↑ Willner, Andrew (September 12, 2010). "Saving the Bayonne Bridge, and the N.J./N.Y. port". The Record (Bergen County). Retrieved 2011-08-25.
  10. ↑ PJRR
  11. ↑ NY Harbor Intermodal Facilities
  12. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20110612020831/http://www.panynj.gov/.../seaport/.../Regional_rail.html. Archived from the original on June 12, 2011. Retrieved June 29, 2009. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  13. ↑ Hudson County Master Plan
  14. ↑ "Port Jersey Channel, New Jersey" (PDF). Report of Channel Conditions 400 feet or wider. USACE. 22 September 2011. Retrieved 2013-03-16.
  15. ↑ "Port Jersey Channe Jersey City & Bayonne, New Jersey" (PDF). USACE. February 2013. Retrieved 2013-03-16.
  16. ↑ "Port Jersey Channel Deepening". Maritime Development. New Jersey Department of Transportation. Retrieved 2013-03-16.
  17. ↑ Strunsky, Steve (October 21, 2010). "Port Authority begins development of ship-to-rail container facility in Jersey City". The Star-Ledger (Newark).
  18. ↑ Tirella, Tricia (October 17, 2010). "$24 million in railway improvements celebrated". Hudson Reporter. Retrieved 2011-08-25.
  19. ↑ Frassinelli, Mike (July 11, 2011). "N.J. Turnpike Authority wants to expand Bayonne interchange". The Star-Ledger (Newark). Retrieved 2011-07-15.
  20. ↑ Garbarine, Rachelle (February 25, 2001). "Commercial Property/New Jersey; In Jersey City, an Industrial Park by the Hudson". The New York Times.
  21. ↑ Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. NJ-49, "Greenville Yard, Transfer Bridge System"
  22. ↑ "Port Authority Board Approves Purchase and Redevelopment of Greenville Yards, Including a Barge-to-Rail Facility to Take Trucks off the Road" (Press release). Port Authority of New York & New Jersey. May 18, 2010. Retrieved 2010-11-15.
  23. ↑ Urbina, Ian (October 7, 2004). "City Trash Plan Forgoes Trucks, Favoring Barges". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-02-14.
  24. ↑ http://www.state.nj.us/transportation/capital/tcp12/sec2/multimodal.pdf
  25. ↑ http://www.railwayage.com/breaking-news/hdr-hired-by-pany-nj-to-rehab-yard-3725.html
  26. ↑ http://www.hdrinc.com/about-hdr/news-and-events/news-releases/2011-11-16-port-authority-of-new-york-and-new-jersey-hires-h
  27. ↑ http://members.trainweb.com/bedt/indloco/nynjr.html
  28. ↑ Port Authority Board Approves Major Redevelopment Of Greenville Yard To Improve Cargo Movement In The Port, Port Authority Press Release Number 190-2014, Sep 17, 2014
  29. ↑ New York-area port authority to build rail transload facility, improve cross-harbor car float system, Progressive Railroading, September 18, 2014
  30. ↑ McGeehan, Patrick (August 16, 2010). "Wind Turbine Projects Sprouting Around New York". The New York Times.
  31. ↑ "Port Authority plans windfarm for New Jersey". environmentalleader.com. May 10, 2010. Retrieved 2011-06-06.
  32. ↑ Hack, Charles (May 18, 2010), "Port Authority plans to build 5 big windmills to power new container port on Bayonne and Jersey City border", The Jersey Journal, retrieved 2011-06-06
  33. ↑ Terminal Overview - Global Terminal: 2014, Global Container Terminals - accessed June 1, 2012

External links

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