Editing Outerbridge Crossing (section)

== Description ==
[[File:Outerbridge Crossing by Dave Frieder.jpg|thumb|left|View from top of tower through truss work]]
Constructed from 1925 to 1928, the bridge was named for [[Eugenius Harvey Outerbridge]], the first chairman of the then–[[Port of New York Authority]] and a resident of Staten Island.<ref name=NYCEncyclopedia /><ref name=nyt>{{cite news |title=E. H. Outerbridge, Port Expert, Dies. Head Of Export And Import Firm And Ex-Chairman Of Port Of New York Authority. |url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0C11FB355516738DDDA80994D9415B828FF1D3 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=November 11, 1932 |access-date=March 9, 2008}}</ref><ref name="Richman">{{cite book |last=Richman |first=Steven M. |title=The Bridges of New Jersey: Portraits of Garden State Crossings |url=https://archive.org/details/bridgesnewjersey00rich |url-access=limited |year=2005 |publisher=Rutgers University Press |location=New Brunswick |isbn=0-8135-3510-7 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/bridgesnewjersey00rich/page/n121 103]–104}}</ref> Rather than calling it the "Outerbridge Bridge", the span was labeled a "crossing". The bridge's etymology is sometimes incorrectly attributed to the fact that the Outerbridge Crossing is the most remote bridge in New York City and the southernmost crossing in New York state.<ref name="Richman" /><ref>{{cite news |last=Yates |first=Maura |title=Happy Bridge Birthday |newspaper=[[Staten Island Advance]] |date=June 27, 2008 |url=https://www.silive.com/transportation/index.ssf/2008/06/happy_bridge_birthday.html |access-date=May 28, 2009}}</ref>

The bridge is of a steel [[cantilever]] construction, designed by [[John Alexander Low Waddell]] and built under the auspices of the Port of New York Authority, now the [[Port Authority of New York and New Jersey]], which currently operates it.<ref name="Richman" /> It opened simultaneously with the first [[Goethals Bridge (1928–2017)|Goethals Bridge]] on June 29, 1928.<ref>{{cite news |title=Two Bridges Open Over Arthur Kill |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1928/06/30/archives/two-bridges-open-over-arthur-bill-traffic-between-staten-island-and.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=June 30, 1928 |page=35 |access-date=July 9, 2010}}</ref> Both spans had similar designs prior to replacement of the Goethals with the current cable-stayed bridge in 2018. Neither bridge saw high traffic counts until the opening of the [[Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge]] in 1964. Traffic counts on both bridges were also depressed due to the effects of the [[Great Depression]] and [[World War II]].

The Outerbridge Crossing has undergone numerous repairs as a result of the high volume of traffic that crosses the bridge each day. On October 11, 2013, the Port Authority announced the completion of the bridge's repaving project.<ref>{{cite press release|title=Port Authority Completes Outerbridge Crossing Repavement Project Three Weeks Early|url=https://www.panynj.gov/press-room/press-item.cfm?headLine_id=1839|agency=Port Authority of New York and New Jersey|date=October 11, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150907102139/https://www.panynj.gov/press-room/press-item.cfm?headLine_id=1839|archive-date=September 7, 2015}}</ref>

On March 2, 2017, Port Authority Executive Director Patrick Foye announced the funding of a study into a potential replacement bridge.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Shapiro|first=Rachel|date=March 6, 2017|url=https://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2017/03/study_to_begin_on_outerbridge.html|title=Outerbridge Crossing replacement: First steps taken|work=SILive.com|access-date=March 7, 2017|language=en-US}}</ref> The [[National Transportation Safety Board]] recommended in early 2025 that the bridge undergo a structural vulnerability assessment, following the [[Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse]] in Maryland the previous year.<ref>{{cite web | last=Brodsky | first=Robert | title=NTSB urges look at collapse risk for bridges, including in NYC | website=Newsday | date=March 21, 2025 | url=https://www.newsday.com/long-island/bridge-safety-ntsb-awo80ckj | access-date=March 24, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Three Key New Jersey Bridges Identified as High Risk for Ship Strike Collapse by NTSB | website=Shore News Network | date=March 22, 2025 | url=https://www.shorenewsnetwork.com/2025/03/22/three-key-new-jersey-bridges-identified-as-high-risk-for-ship-strike-collapse-by-ntsb/ | access-date=March 24, 2025}}</ref> Also in 2025, the Port Authority announced that a study into widening the bridge had been completed at a cost of $8.3 million and would be released later that year.<ref>{{cite web | last=Matteo | first=Mike | title=Outerbridge Crossing: Study on widening the nearly 100-year-old span on track to be released this year | website=silive | date=March 23, 2025 | url=https://www.silive.com/transportation/2025/03/outerbridge-crossing-study-on-widening-the-nearly-100-year-old-span-on-track-to-be-released-this-year.html | access-date=March 24, 2025}}</ref>