Delair Bridge
Coordinates: 39 ° 58 ′ 56 ″ N , 75 ° 4 ′ 9 ″ W.
| Delair Bridge | ||
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| Official name | Pennsylvania & New Jersey Railroad, Delaware River Bridge | |
| use | Railway bridge, 2-track | |
| Convicted | New Jersey Transit Atlantic City Line and Conrail | |
| Crossing of | Delaware River | |
| place | Philadelphia , Pennsylvania and Pennsauken Township , New Jersey | |
| Entertained by | CSX Transportation , Norfolk Southern Railway (50% owner) | |
| construction | Truss bridge made of steel , lift bridge , formerly swing bridge | |
| overall length | 1339.9 m | |
| Longest span | 165.2 m | |
| opening | 1896 | |
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The Delair Bridge is a railway hub and former swing bridge over the Delaware , which runs from Philadelphia in the US state of Pennsylvania over to Pennsauken in the state of New Jersey . It is located about 8.7 km as the crow flies northeast of downtown Philadelphia and immediately south of the Betsy Ross Bridge on New Jersey State Route 90 .
The steel truss bridge is 4,396 feet (1,339.9 m) long and 1,943 feet (592.2 m) without ramps, has a regular headroom of 50 feet (15.24 m) and carries two tracks. The lift bridge has a clear width of 542 feet (165.2 m) and the maximum headroom is 135 feet (41.15 m).
The Delair Bridge was the first paved crossing of the lower Delaware ever. The name Delair comes from the neighborhood on the New Jersey side, which was located directly on the bridge approach. The area is now called Delair Junction .
The bridge was initially built as a swing bridge by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) in 1895-96 . As the width of the river, the tidal range and the marshy subsoil made it difficult to lay foundations, the openings had to be made very wide. The heavy shipping traffic required the greatest possible headroom. The decision was finally made to build a steel framework bridge with four openings, with the third opening, seen from the west, serving as a movable element. This was centered and 323 feet (98.45 m) long.
In the 1950s, the United States Army Corps of Engineers planned to expand the Lower Delaware as a shipping lane. A clear bridge width of at least 500 feet was required for this, for which the previous movable element would have been too narrow. The second bridge opening was converted into a lift bridge and the rotating element was taken out of service.
The bridge is mainly used by freight trains. In passenger traffic, the Atlantic City Line has been crossing the bridge from Philadelphia to Atlantic City since 1989 .
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- Historic American Engineering Record: Pennsylvania & New Jersey Railroad, Delaware River Bridge, Spanning Delaware River, south of Betsy Ross Bridge (State Route 90), Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, PA . in: Historic American Engineering Record (Library of Congress), Library of Congress, Prints and Photograph Division, Washington, DC 20540 USA (English)
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Upstream Betsy Ross Bridge |
Crossing the Delaware River |
Downriver Benjamin Franklin Bridge |