‘Ghost Bridge’ appears at drained reservoir

(12 Nov 2024)
FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4532951

++MUSIC CLEARED FOR EDITORIAL USE++
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ASSOCIATED PRESS
Oak Ridge, New Jersey - 12 November 2024
1. SOUNDBITE (English) Kevin Greer, Newark Watershed Superintendent:
“What you see behind me is the infamous ghost bridge that people are wildly attracted to and we understand that."
2. Wide of Ghost Bridge
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Kevin Greer, Newark Watershed Superintendent:
“People should know that this bridge was built over 150 years ago for horse and buggy, not for motorized vehicles.”
4. People walking on bridge
5. Bridge arches
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Alexander Gonzalez, New Jersey resident:
“It has withstood a lot of stuff over the years. It's been buried under water. So the fact that's still standing is really remarkable. And I respect the heck out of them for building it.”
7. People on bridge
8. Ghost Bridge and reservoir
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Theresa Biegel, New Jersey resident:
“This is the Oak Ridge Reservoir, which is sort of a main water source for us here. And up here we have our Ghost Bridge which was appeared.”
10. Arch of Ghost Bridge
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Theresa Biegel, New Jersey resident:
“As the generations grow, people don't realize it's actually here. So when it actually the water drops and people see it, it's, you know, the Ghost Bridge.”
12. Ghost Bridge from above
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Theresa Biegel, New Jersey resident:
“It’s amazing to the work that was done years ago. I think we could learn some things from the way they built things years ago.”
14. Sequence of man stacking rocks on bridge
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Kevin Greer, Newark Watershed Superintendent:
“This reservoir has been lowered to perform maintenance on our dam and gatehouse. It has nothing to do with the drought.”
16. Pan across reservoir
17. SOUNDBITE (English) Kevin Greer, Newark Watershed Superintendent:
"We intend on filling it back up after the project is over.”
18. Rocks in bridge
19. SOUNDBITE (English) Keith Amadio, New Jersey resident:
“I’m an engineer and it's a phenomenal piece of engineering.”
20. SOUNDBITE (English) Keith Amadio, New Jersey resident:
“There is no steel to rust, the archways are in beautiful shape. The large stones, the way they made the the stonework to form the arches.”
21. SOUNDBITE (English) Keith Amadio, New Jersey resident:
“It’s just interesting history.”
22. Various of Ghost Bridge
STORYLINE:
A bridge from the horse-and-buggy era, known to locals as the “Ghost Bridge,” has recently become visible and is capturing the interest of people from around the region who travel to see it.

The bridge is located in the Oak Ridge Reservoir in Northern New Jersey, one of several reservoirs that supply water to the residents of Newark, New Jersey.

Newark officials drained the reservoir to perform general maintenance and to upgrade a valve in the reservoir’s dam.

While the state is experiencing drought conditions, officials are not concerned about a lack of water reserves for the city, according to Kevin Greer, the Superintendent of the Newark Watershed and Pequannock Water Treatment Plant, because other reservoirs in the system have abundant water.

The Oak Ridge Reservoir, constructed in the 1890s to provide water to Newark, submerged the rural villages of Oak Ridge and Wallace Corner in New Jersey, according to historical information from the city of Newark.

The three-arched stone bridge, now called the “Ghost Bridge” because it only appears at low water levels, once connected Oak Ridge to the main road.

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