Lower Hack Lift

The Lower Hack Lift is a vertical-lift railway bridge spanning the Hackensack River in Jersey City with three railroad tracks. Its movable center span raises upward to allow vessels to pass through beneath the bridge.

The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad commissioned engineer John Alexander Low Waddell to design this steel structure, completed in 1928. The project demonstrated advanced railroad engineering practices of that era.

The bridge represents early 20th-century American railway engineering, documented in the Historic American Engineering Record of New Jersey.

New Jersey Transit operates the bridge and requires one hour notice to the bridge tender for water vessel passage. Visitors can observe the structure from public walkways, particularly from nearby riverfront paths.

The structure incorporates about one million pounds of steel and employed groundbreaking construction techniques from the 1920s. This engineering achievement is documented in the Historic American Engineering Record and shows the sophistication of early vertical-lift bridges.

Location: New Jersey

Made from material: steel

GPS coordinates: 40.74320,-74.07700

Latest update: December 12, 2025 17:48