The Glimmer Glass Bridge is a cable lift bascule drawbridge built in 1898, making it one of the oldest drawbridges in New Jersey. It is also the only drawbridge in New Jersey, possibly along the entire east coast of the country, to use rolling counterweights to open and close the bascule span, earning it a spot in the National Register of Historic Places. The bridge is located in Manasquan and carries Brielle Road over the Glimmer Glass, the tidal inlet from which the bridge takes its name. During my time in the area this Sunday, I got the opportunity to see this old bridge open up to allow boat traffic to pass through.
The bridge's age easily shows through its design and the process of opening and closing it. For one thing, the drawbridge locks must be must be manually opened and closed by hand. Second, the rolling counterweight design results in the bridge being incredibly slow to open or close. Once unlocked, it takes over five minutes to fully open. In combination with the gates lowering to block the road and the need to change the locks manually, the whole process can cause traffic on Brielle Road to be halted for almost 15 minutes at a time. It took long enough that I actually stopped filming for a couple of minutes so that I could rest my arm. Thank goodness the e-bells at this bridge only sound when the gates are lowering or raising.