Mid-Delaware Bridge

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Coordinates: 41 ° 22 ′ 18 ″  N , 74 ° 41 ′ 52 ″  W.

Mid-Delaware Bridge
Mid-Delaware Bridge
View of the bridge from Port Jervis, looking upriver
Convicted four lanes US 6 / US 209
Subjugated Delaware River
place Port Jervis , New York  / Matamoras , Pennsylvania
Entertained by Joint Interstate Bridge Commission
construction Continuous framework construction made of steel
overall length 201 m
width 13.4 m
Clear height 7.6 m
opening 1939
location
Mid-Delaware Bridge, Pennsylvania
Mid-Delaware Bridge
Mid-Delaware Bridge map.gif
Location of the bridge ine Matamoras and Port Jervis
p1

The Mid-Delaware Bridge , sometimes called Port Jervis – Matamoras Bridge or Fourth Barrett Bridge , is a 201 m long steel bridge with a continuous truss construction over the Delaware River between Port Jervis , New York and Matamoras , Pennsylvania in the United States . It leads US Highway 6 and US Highway 209 over the river that forms the border between the two states . It is the only bridge on the upper reaches of the river with four lanes.

history

View of the bridge from Pennsylvania

The current bridge was built in 1939 by the RC Ritz Construction Company and is the last structure in the long history of river crossings between the two locations. Construction costs were $ 380,000 ( $ 6,981,000 when adjusted for inflation) The first connection was a railroad bridge that built the Milford and Matamoras Railroad in the mid-19th century to end a dispute with the larger Erie Railroad , because the latter did not want to comply with legal obligations to build a bridge at the point that crosses both rail traffic and a road. It was intended to complete this bridge in 1852, the failed attempt by the railway company to have the law declared unconstitutional delayed the start of construction work until this year, the bridge was completed in 1854.

This building was destroyed by a storm in 1870. The directors of the Milford and Matamoras Railroad complained to Jay Gould when the Erie Railroad showed no interest in rebuilding the bridge immediately. Gould announced that the company had sold its rights to the bridge to another company. This turns out to be a blind company. A new railway bridge was built a little further up the river.

Businessmen from Port Jervis, of Charles St. John were cited were frustrated by the delays and founded the Barrett Bridge Company, a suspension bridge by John A. Roebling to be planned. This bridge had two spans of 325 m feet (99 m) each and was cleared in 1872. In March 1875 an ice barrier broke upstream and the resulting flood washed away the recently completed railway bridge. Some segments of the bridge hit the Barrett Bridge, damaging it too. Parts of the bridge deck were driven 40 km downstream, but remained largely intact. They were brought back and reinstalled within a few weeks.

This structure existed until it was destroyed in the heavy flood in October 1903. A short time later, the bridge building company had a new structure built, which was built in a similar way to the current bridge. The structure was taken over in 1922 by the newly formed Joint Interstate Bridge Commission , whose purpose was the administration of the joint bridges on the Delaware River; at this point the toll was abolished. The toll house in Port Jervis is still standing and is part of a restaurant.

The Barrett Bridge was finally closed in the late 1930s, as the volume of trucks and passenger vehicles had increased significantly and the current bridge was built as a result. It was the only bridge in the area until Interstate 84 was built. In the course of this motorway, a new bridge was built less than two kilometers downstream in the 1960s. The Mid-Delaware Bridge proved to be more resilient than its predecessors when it survived the floods in 1955 after the passage of Hurricane Diane . During a flood in 2006, the bridge was closed because the access roads on both sides were flooded.

In June 2007, the Bridge Commission released $ 550,000 to renew the rear walls of the bridgeheads and a dam.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Worksheet 3 . Retrieved June 14, 2009.
  2. ^ A b c Dale T. Frank: Bridges over the Delaware River: A History Of Crossings ( English ). Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, NJ 2003, ISBN 0813532124 , p. 139.
  3. ↑ Thomas Ehrenreich: The story of a little railroad and a big bridge ( English ) In: Railroad Extra . catskillarchive.com. 2001. Retrieved June 14, 2009.
  4. ↑ The Wreck of the Barrett Bridge at Port Jervis (English) (PDF), New York Times. March 21, 1875. Retrieved June 14, 2009. 
  5. ^ The Port Jervis Flood ( PDF), New York Times. March 18, 1875. Retrieved June 14, 2009. 
  6. ↑ David Denenberg: 1872 Barrett ( English ) bridgemeister.com. Retrieved June 9, 2009.
  7. ↑ Raging floodwaters leave towns ravaged ; WABC TV ; Retrieved June 9, 2007.
  8. ^ Bi-state commission sets work plan for Upper Delaware Bridges ; pocononews.net; Retrieved June 9, 2007.

Web links

Upstream
Pond Eddy Bridge 		Crossing the Delaware River Downstream Interstate 84 Bridge
I-84.svg