History
Bergen Arches is the common name for the Erie Cut, the Erie Railroad's mile-long, four-track cut which linked the railroad's main line to its Hudson River waterfront Pavonia Terminal, where travelers to New York City would transfer to ferries or the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad. From 1906 to 1910, using 250,000 pounds of dynamite, workers blasted through 800,000 cubic yards (610,000 m3) of blue trap rock; 160,000 cubic yards (120,000 m3) of earth were excavated. There were construction cost overruns, with a total cost around US $ 5,000,000.00, that led to financial trouble for the Erie and the cancellation of plans to build a new terminal along the Jersey City waterfront. The term "Bergen Arches" originally referred to the massive bridges over the cut, but the two terms have become synonymous.
The last trains to the terminal ran in 1959. The Arches are abandoned. The adjacent tunnel (the Long Dock Tunnel) from the mid-19th century that the Erie Cut replaced is used for freight, and is being restored as part of Liberty Corridor Project as an extension of National Docks Secondary line.
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