Goethals Bridge

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{{Infobox_Bridge |bridge_name= Goethals Bridge |image= DSCN3796 goethalsbridge e.JPG |caption= The Goethals Bridge, seen from Staten Island |official_name= |also_known_as= |carries= 4 lanes of I-278 |crosses= Arthur Kill |locale= Elizabeth, New Jersey and Staten Island, New York |maint= Port Authority of New York and New Jersey |id= |design= Cantilever bridge |mainspan= 204.83 m (672 feet) |length= 2,164.08 m (7,100 feet) |width= 18.90 m (62 feet) |clearance= 4.3 m (14 feet) |below= 42.67 m (140 feet) |traffic= |open= June 29, 1928 |closed= |toll= $6.00 (eastbound) (EZ-Pass) |map_cue= |map_image= |map_text= |map_width= |lat= |long= }}

The Goethals Bridge (pronounced "GŌ-thüls") connects Elizabeth, New Jersey to Staten Island, New York over the Arthur Kill. It is operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and was one of the first structures built by the authority. The bridge is part of Interstate 278. The bridge is named for Major General George W. Goethals, builder of the Panama Canal and the first consulting engineer of the Port Authority.

A steel truss cantilever design by John Alexander Low Waddell, the bridge is 205 m long (672 feet) central span, 2,621 m long (8,600 feet) in total, 18.9 m wide (62 feet), has a clearance of 41.15 m (135 feet) and has four lanes for traffic. It is named after the Port Authority engineer George Washington Goethals, who died before the dedication. The authority had $3 million of state money and raised $14 million in bonds to build the Goethals Bridge and the Outerbridge Crossing, the Goethals bridge construction began on September 1, 1925 and cost $7.2 million. It and the Outerbridge Crossing were opened on June 29, 1928. The Goethals Bridge replaced three ferries and augmented the existing Arthur Kill rail bridge. Its unusual mid-span height was a requirement of the New Jersey ports.

Connecting onto the New Jersey Turnpike, it is one of the main routes for traffic between there and Brooklyn via the Staten Island Expressway and the Verrazano Narrows Bridge. Until the bridge to Brooklyn was completed in 1964 the Goethals Bridge never turned a profit. The total traffic in 2002 was 15.68 million vehicles.

The Goethals Bridge has two 10-foot (3 m) lanes in each direction, which do not meet today’s 12-foot (3.7 m) wide highway design standards and has no shoulders for emergency access. To meet modern standards,a new parallel bridge is planned, dividing the westbound and eastbound traffic between the old and new bridges.

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