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A QUICK ANALYSIS OF EACH OF THE LIFTS AT BRIDGEWATER MALL IN BRIDGEWATER TOWNSHIP

I do not have much time to elaborate on every single detail of the lifts at the Bridgewater Mall in Bridgewater Township, so I will try to narrow down my analyses as quick as possible. I have no time to include pictures as visuals either, so you’ll just have to refer to the attached YouTube video below.

The Mall itself

Bridgewater Commons Mall is a mall from the early 1980’s that has gone through quite a few renovations and expansions over the years. Inside the mall, the original anchors are Macy’s and Bloomingdales, which both have Westinghouse lifts, still fully original to the 1980’s construction project. The carpark was added in during the 1990’s and features the first lift I filmed which was the Dover glass hydraulic. Inside the mall, there is a food court on the third floor with three sets of escalators throughout the main part of the mall, with three more sets inside the multi-level stores (Bloomingdales, Macy’s, and Lord & Taylor). The majority of the escalators are SchindlerHaughton, with some of the escalators at Lord and Taylor being replaced with KONE TravelMaster Series during the late 2010s. Bloomingdale’s and Macy’s still have their original Westinghouse escalators, and the main lifts in the mall are Dover lifts modernised in the early 2000’s with new ThyssenKrupp.

The Carpark Lift

This lift is a fairly standard but colorful wall-papered Dover hydraulic lift which is running on relay controls. It had Impulse when it was first installed, but got modernised shortly after with EPCO SSL (Super Suck Line) buttons. This lift has semi-intelligent leveling with pre-start meaning the lift starts up before the interlock even engages, thus saving time and making the lift complete trips much more quickly. This lift does not use MCE logic though. However, it travels at a speed of roughly 26-30 meters per minute despite only traveling a speed of 6 meters. In short, this is an epic lift because of the banging noises in the shaft as it is traveling down from floor 3 to 2.

The Main Lifts

There is not much to write here about the main lifts. However, these lifts are incredibly fast and smooth for being 3 story hydros serving a total travel distance of 9 meters. The motors on these things are very quiet and they have been modernised into ThyssenKrupp Oildraulics in the early 2000’s.

The Macy’s Lift

This lift is full of character. It is a mid 1980’s Westinghouse hydraulic lift which has recently had its motor gutted out and replaced with a new Canton pump, which sounds incredible going up and down. The buttons have obviously not been touched and even the phone is original. In short, everything about this lift is original except for the motor. There is some exposed wiring hanging down from the third floor at the landing which presents a safety hazard for unsuspecting passengers. This lift is hands down my favorite lift in the entire shopping center due to the amount of character this lift has including very hard stops and traction-like starts. The motor is extremely musical.

The Lord and Taylor Lift

This lift is EXTREMELY AWESOME! When it starts in both directions, it does so with a big bang, which immediately adds to the hidden character inside this lift. The motor cannot be heard going up because of the very loud fan, but the bumps along the way make it seem even more interesting. The way Schindler 300A’s run really intrigue me into studying more how these kinds of lifts work and to uncover some of the reasons why the Schindler 300A was such an incredible hydraulic lift prototype for Schindler. This was my second favorite lift in the shopping mall. Like all the other lifts in the mall, this lift is also hydraulic. I hope this lift will never get modernised as it is such an amazing lift.

The Bloomingdale’s Lift

This lift is the worst lift in the shopping center. In fact, it is so bad that I decided to play it safe and not ride it after almost getting stuck in it trying to go to the lower level of the shop. This lift can only hold up to 4 people and looks as if it hasn’t been maintained since the Stone Age. Not to mention, the buttons in the lift itself are falling apart, and the phone is dead. The alarm is not that loud. This is one lift I will avoid each time I go to the mall.

Summary

While I prefer other malls and I believe other malls in Jersey have superior lifts, I think Bridgewater Mall still has a handful of fairly nice lifts with their own little gem factors in them. If I had to recommend two lifts in this mall to potential lift filmers visiting Bridgewater Township for a day in a mood to go to the mall, I would highly recommend filming the lift at Lord and Taylor and Macy’s, as those have some of my favorite lifts in west central NJ.

Link to lift galore here



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