Delair Bridge

{{Infobox Bridge

|bridge_name= Delair Bridge

|image= HAER-DelairBridge-pa24.jpg

|image_size=300px

|caption= The Delair Bridge viewed from the Pennsylvania side

|carries= Trains of New Jersey Transit Atlantic City Line and Conrail Delair Branch

|crosses= Delaware River

|locale= Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Pennsauken Township, New Jersey

|design= Steel Lift Bridge

|mainspan= {{convert|542|ft|m}}

|length= {{convert|4396|ft|m}}

|open=April 19, 1896{{cite news |title=New Delaware River Bridge |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31736876/delaware_river_bridge_april_18_1896/ |access-date=May 19, 2019 |work=The Lewisburg Chronicle |date=April 18, 1896 |location=Lewisburg, Pennsylvania |page=1|via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}

|coordinates={{coord|39|58|57|N|75|04|09|W|name=Delair Bridge|type:landmark_region:US-PA|display=inline,title}}

}}

The Delair Bridge is a railroad bridge with a vertical-lift section that crosses the Delaware River between Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Pennsauken Township, New Jersey, just south of the Betsy Ross Bridge. The two-track bridge is part of Conrail Shared Assets Operations and is jointly used by Norfolk Southern Railway and CSX Transportation freight trains, as well as by the New Jersey Transit Atlantic City Line service.

History

File:Lift span, from SW. - Pennsylvania and New Jersey Railroad, Delaware River Bridge, Spanning Delaware River, south of Betsy Ross Bridge (State Route 90), Philadelphia, HAER PA,51-PHILA,720-7.tif

The Delair Bridge, built by the Delaware River Railroad and Bridge Company (a subsidiary of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR)) in 1895–1896, was the first bridge of any sort between Philadelphia and New Jersey. The steel span connected PRR tracks in North Philadelphia to southern New Jersey. It consisted of three fixed Pennsylvania truss spans and a through-truss swing-span drawbridge totaling {{convert|1943|ft|m}}. Approach trestles of {{convert|2129|ft|m}} on the Pennsylvania side and {{convert|324|ft|m}} on the New Jersey side bring its total length to {{convert|4396|ft|m}}.{{cite web |url=https://cdn.loc.gov/master/pnp/habshaer/pa/pa3700/pa3755/data/pa3755data.pdf |title=Pennsylvania & New Jersey Railroad, Delaware River Bridge |last=Spivey |first=Justin M. |date=April 2001 |website=Historic American Engineering Record |publisher=Library of Congress |location= Washington, D.C. |page=3 |access-date=August 31, 2024}}

Starting in 1958, the PRR converted the bridge into a vertical-lift span to increase clearance for river traffic. The {{convert|542|ft|m}} movable link was floated into place in one piece to facilitate installation and minimize delay.{{cite news |title=PRR Bridge Will Set a Record |journal=Railway Age |volume=145 |number=3 |date=July 21, 1958 |pages=18–33 }} Work was completed in 1960. The Delair Bridge was the longest and heaviest double-track lift bridge in the world at the time. Note that the single-track Cape Cod Canal Railroad Bridge is {{convert|2|ft|m}} longer.{{cite news |first=David B. |last=Steinman |title=The World's Most Notable Bridges |journal=Engineering News-Record |volume=141 |number=24 |date=December 9, 1948 |pages=92–94}}

The bridge was also electrified in the late 1930s,The line to Pavnoia Yard or Atlantic City is not listed in [http://prr.railfan.net/ElectricTraction.html Drawing ET-1], June 10, 1935. Electrification was likely after this, although the Richmond Substation was installed by 1932. allowing freight trains hauled by electric locomotives to access the Pavonia Yard in Camden, New Jersey, from the Northeast Corridor. Electrification was removed by January 1967{{cite web |title=PRR Interlocking Diagram for JERSEY |date=January 1, 1971 |url=http://www.sjrail.com/wiki/images/9/9b/Jersey_map.gif |access-date=December 26, 2010}} but was restored in May 1973.{{cite web|last=Baer|first=Christopher T.|title=PRR Chronology 1973 |url=http://www.prrths.com/Hagley/PRR1973%20Jun%2005.pdf |publisher=Pennsylvania Railroad Technical and Historical Society |access-date=2 September 2012}} However, Conrail ceased electric freight operations in 1981 and removed the wires several years later.

Passenger train traffic on the bridge ceased in 1969 when Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines service was cut to Lindenwold station after the completion of the PATCO Speedline, but was restored in 1989 when Amtrak began the Atlantic City Express service. Amtrak service ended in 1995, but New Jersey Transit Atlantic City Line service has used the bridge continuously since 1993.

The bridge's southern track was formerly reserved for freight traffic, and the northern track only used for the Atlantic City Line. As part of the Pennsauken Transit Center project, a station complex where the River LINE passes under the Delair Bridge's eastern approach, platforms were built on both tracks. Both tracks are now used by both passenger and freight trains.

21st century rehabilitation

File:NJT 6013 coming off the Delair Bridge, May 2015.jpg

In December 2011, an $18.5 million Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant was awarded to South Jersey Port Corporation by the United States Department of Transportation, partially for rehabilitation of the bridge.http://www.ifw-net.com/freightpubs/ifw/index/us-invests-62-million-in-ports/20017927100.htm {{dead link|date=December 2018}}{{cite web |url=https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.dev/files/docs/TIGER_2011_AWARD.pdf |title=TIGER 2011 Awards: South Jersey Port Rail Improvements, DelAir Bridge |year=2011 |access-date=December 30, 2018 |publisher=U.S. Department of Transportation }} The improvements were completed.{{cite news |url=https://hiddencityphila.org/2016/11/making-connections-in-new-jersey-with-the-delair-bridge/ |title=Making Connections in New Jersey with the DelAir Bridge |date=November 9, 2016 |last=Ricereto |first=Mick |work=Hidden City Philadelphia }}

References

External links

{{HAER |survey=PA-545 |id=pa3755 |title=Pennsylvania & New Jersey Railroad, Delaware River Bridge, Spanning Delaware River, south of Betsy Ross Bridge (State Route 90), Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, PA |photos=23 |color=2 |data=6 |cap=2}}
{{Structurae |id=20031745 |title=Delair Bridge (1896)}}
[http://www.workshopoftheworld.com/richmond_bridesburg/delair.html Delair Bridge] at "Workshop of the World"
[http://michaelfroio.com/commissionedwork/2015/4/29/delair-bridge-project Video of rebuilding by Michael Froio 2015]{{Dead link|date=January 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

{{Crossings navbox

|structure = Crossings

|place = Delaware River

|bridge = Delair Bridge

|bridge signs = Norfolk Southern/CSX
NJ Transit

|upstream = Betsy Ross Bridge

|upstream signs = 20px

|downstream = Benjamin Franklin Bridge

|downstream signs = 25px 20px
PATCO Speedline

}}

Category:Railroad bridges in New Jersey

Category:Vertical lift bridges in the United States