Edison Bridge (New Jersey)

The Edison Bridge (officially the Thomas Alva Edison Memorial Bridge) is a bridge on US 9 in the U.S. state of New Jersey spanning the Raritan River near its mouth in Raritan Bay. The bridge, which connects Woodbridge Township on the north with Sayreville on the south, was opened to weekend traffic starting on October 11, 1940, and was opened permanently on November 15, 1940."Jersey Dedicates The Edison Bridge; Inventor's Widow Cuts Ribbon On $4,696,000 Span Over The Raritan River Structure A Defense Aid. Erected to Ease Congestion-- Governor and Governor-Elect Attend Ceremony", The New York Times, December 15, 1940. p. 46. As of 2003, the bridge carries more than 82,000 vehicles daily and is owned and operated by the New Jersey Department of Transportation.

Construction

The design of the Edison Bridge was the direct responsibility of Morris Goodkind, chief engineer of the bridge division of the New Jersey State Highway Department, a position he had held since 1925.

The bridge is named for Thomas Edison. Construction on the bridge was started on September 26, 1938. The Edison Bridge was officially dedicated on December 14, 1940, with the ribbon cut by Mrs. Mina Edison Hughes, widow of the inventor. Also participating in the ceremonies were New Jersey Governor A. Harry Moore, and then Governor-elect Charles Edison, son of the inventor, along with the bridge's designer, Morris Goodkind.

The final design called...
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