Bayonne Graphic

Bayonne Bridge causes commerce logjam Tight fit Even at low tide, a massive container ship barely makes it under the Bayonne Bridge without damaging its smokestack — or the bridge. Low tide provides only five feet of leeway.

Too low to accommodate the growing container ships that must pass underneath 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, 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 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 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 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.

REGINA MAERSK 6,000 TEU* Keel-to mast height 198 feet. At low tide, this ship can pass under the bridge.

LOW TIDE 156 feet clearance

20 30 50 * TEU (Twenty-foot-equivalent units) is the measure of a ship’s capacity to carry cargo containers

HIGH TIDE 151 feet clearance

Floating just a few feet higher at high tide, the same ship would not be able to pass underneath.

MSC DANIELA 14,000 TEU* Keel-to mast height 221 feet. Ships of this scale are too large to clear the bridge even at low tide.

Sea level 26 30 50 STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE/ROXANNE RICKER