# Chaplain Washington–Harry Laderman Bridge

The Chaplain Washington Bridge and the Harry Laderman Bridge, or the Chaplain Washington Memorial Bridge and Laderman Memorial Bridge, are a pair of bridges on the New Jersey Turnpike (Interstate 95) crossing the Passaic River in northeastern New Jersey. The Washington Bridge built in 1952 and carries the eastern spur of the turnpike; the Laderman Bridge was built in 1970 and carries the western spur.

## Location

When passing over the Passaic the bridges cross the county line at Newark in Essex County and Kearny in Hudson County.
In Newark, the viaducts leading to the bridges align for the southbound merge/northbound separation of the eastern and western spurs just north of the interchange with I-78, which the New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA) refers to as the Southern Mixing Bowl.
The southern end of the bridges is just south of the Pulaski Skyway (U.S. 1-9), under which they pass. As they ascend/descend they pass by the Essex County Resource Recovery Facility and over the Conrail Passaic and Harsimus Line.
In Kearny, the bridges traverse the railroad right-of-way of the PATH system, the Conrail Center Street Branch, NJ Transit Rail Operations, and the Northeast Corridor. They soon enter the Kearny Marshes of New Jersey Meadowlands, where they diverge and soon cross over the Newark-Jersey City Turnpike (CR 508).
The Chaplain Washington Bridge ends before the Belleville Turnpike and the eastern spur briefly touches ground before ascending to cross the Hackensack on the Lewandowski Bridge.
The Laderman Bridge reaches its northern end in Saw Mill Creek Wildlife Management Area at the Belleville Turnpike. The western spur continues past Meadowlands Environment Center and the Meadowlands Sports Complex.
The two spurs merge north of the Vince Lombardi Park & Ride cross the Hackensack River in Bergen County.

## History and designation

Built in 1952 as part of the then-mainline route, now the eastern spur, of the New Jersey Turnpike, the Chaplain Washington span is named after Lieutenant John P. Washington, who was one of 4 chaplains who gave their lives to save soldiers during the sinking of the SS Dorchester in World War II. 18 years later, the Harry Laderman bridge opened directly east of the Washington Bridge as part of the building of the turnpike's western spur extension. This bridge is named after toll booth operator Harry Laderman, an employee of the New Jersey Turnpike Authority who died on the job after a truck slammed into his toll booth at Exit 16E, killing him.

## Refurbishment

The NJTA estimates that both the Harry Laderman and Chaplain Washington bridges have the highest rate of truck traffic throughout the entire NJ Turnpike system of highways. The Laderman is rated as structurally deficient on the National Bridge Inventory condition rating scale with numerous cracks, flares, and structural fatigue. The NJTA announced plans in 2014 to rehabilitate the bridge and investigate the structural integrity of the bridge and how to repair it. As of 2019, the bridge’s rehabilitation was about 69 percent complete.

## Gallery

* Chaplain Washington Bridge passing under the Pulaski Skyway (1952)
* Laderman and Chaplain Washington bridges seen from PATH train
* Crossing the Passaic and rail lines upstream of Point-No-Point Bridge