The town was established because of a ferry crossing. In 1832 the Delaware Canal opened and the town had another burst of growth. A covered bridge that was built in 1838. This 1904 bridge replaced the covered bridge.
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Bridges Now and Then posted
Bucks County, Pennsylvania's, Riegelsville Bridge as it appeared in 1952. (Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission) |
This 577' (176m) long bridge was built by the John A. Roebling's Sons Co. and has a longest span of 200' (61m). "Its design is unusual because it contains multiple, relatively short suspension spans. Most suspension bridges that are familiar today are much larger bridges that contains only two suspension towers." [
HistoricBridges]
The "No Horses" sign caught my eye. This must be a Pennsylvania Amish area. The clearance warning sign reads 11' 6".
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drjtbc
"Current bridge is the third oldest existing superstructure in the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission’s 20-bridge system....Average Annual Daily Traffic – 3,200 vehicles (both directions)...The structure’s total length is 580 feet 10 inches. Each of the bridge’s three spans vary in length. The clear roadway width is 15 feet, 11 inches between steel rubrails. The two travel lanes are each 7 feet, 11-1/2 inches wide. The bridge has a three-ton weight limit....The Commission posts bridge monitors at the bridge on a 24/7 basis to prevent crossings of overweight/oversized vehicles on the unique multi-catenary weight-restricted suspension bridge." |
"A timber-plank sidewalk is supported by a king post floor beam system, cantilevered on both ends of the bridge. The sidewalk railing is actually a double-warren truss, assisting in strengthening the bridge roadway. The substructure, masonry piers originally built in 1835, were raised and built up in 1904. The pier nearest the Pennsylvania approach was almost completely demolished in the flood of 1936 and was subsequently rebuilt using reinforced concrete. The bridge is currently posted for a three-ton weight limit and a 15 MPH speed limit." [
RiverExplorer]
"The bridge over the Delaware River here is one of the few remaining multi-span, highway suspension bridges with continuous cables....It pulls on anchors attached to each riverbank and was designed by John A. Roebling & Sons of Trenton, New Jersey." [
DelawareAndLehigh]
Christopher R Hernandez
posted seven photos with the comment: "Riegelsville Bridge, Delaware River, Riegelsville, PA- Riegelsville, NJ built 1904 by John A Roebling's Sons Company based out of Trenton."
Sloan Farrell: Great bridge. Used to guards at both ends to stop overweight trucks. Worked as a summer job work crews in the early 80's for the NJ, PA Joint Bridge Commission in the early 80's. This was one of the bridges we worked on. First year, we ripped up the rotted creosol soaked planks and replaced them. I think it may have been the last wood plank bridge across the Delaware. The next summer we ripped all the wood planks and replaced them with the metal mesh flooring with no netting to save us if we slipped. We sent the creosol wood planks down the Delaware. It was, what it was. Fun memories though.
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Bob Dover posted
The structure of the Reigelsville Suspension Bridge connecting Bucks County, Pennsylvania to Warren County, New Jersey, has cute little oil derrick-shaped towers about 15 feet high sitting on massive white stone piers 30 feet high. The tiny towers straddle the sidewalks on either side of the bridge, seeming to make the sidewalks part of the structure and not an appendage added on to its side. Plaques above the roadway on the suspension towers signify the construction by John A. Roebling’s Sons Company of New York in 1904, in fancy decorative script. At the eastern end, the carved stone date plaque from the original bridge, showing its date of 1837, has been incorporated into the 1904 anchor block. The town of Riegelsville clearly takes pride in being the location of a lovely Roebling bridge. The western approach to the bridge crosses the remains of the Delaware Canal, the towpath of which has been converted into part of the regional Pennsylvania Highlands Trail Network of hiking and biking trails. Historical plaques along the towpath discuss the history of the canal, the 1837 covered bridge, and the 1904 Roebling bridge. The village is a National Historic District, and the best access to the bridge is to park at the historic Riegelsville Inn, which features the image of the little oil derrick-shaped suspension towers on its sign. I have posted several other photos this bridge, and some other Delaware River bridges, on www.bridgespotting.com. There is also a detailed discussion of the bridges of the upper Delaware River, including a recommended tour, in Chapter 9 of my book, Bridgespotting Part 2: A Guide to Even More Bridges that Connect People, Places, and Times. Sloan Farrell: Amazing bridge! Back in the early 80's, I worked for the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission as a summer job and this bridge was one of the bridges we worked on. The Riegelsville bridge had timber planks and we used to test the strength of the planks. If there was a rotted plank, we would rip up and replace. The next summer we got to rip up all the planks and put down steel open-grid roadway deck. Did we haul away the creosol soaked planks and properly dispose of them? Ummm, not so much. Most floated, sank, or fell on the piers until the Delaware rose up to wash them away. Yup. I don't think we had any safety harnesses as well. Also, because of the size of the bridge and weight limit, the bridge had a guard on each side to stop any trucks from trying go over. May still have them. Though we had constructions jobs up and down the river, we did a lot of grass mowing and painting. If we finished early which happened a lot, we were told by the foreman to get out of the public eye which meant getting on the bridge by a pier, climbing off the bridge onto the pier and under the bridge were it was shaded. We just hanged out bsing till we had to go back. The last thing is that there was a old dive bar, called Hootz, on the NJ side. During lunch, we would go in get very good burger and I think 50 cent drafts. Might be 75 cent. Over 40 years ago. https://www.drjtbc.org/bridges/riegelsville/ Laura Mirsky: Sloan Farrell Hootz is still there! |
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Andrew Iwanowsk commented on Bob's post
March 2005 |
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| Chris Herschel commented on Bob's post |
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| Chris Herschel commented on Bob's post |
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| Chris Herschel commented on Bob's post |
This bridge reminded me of an extradosed bridge because of its multiple short towers. But an extradosed bridge is a variant of a cable-stayed bridge rather than a suspension bridge.
Trail Bridge
Just west of the suspension bridge is a new bridge over the former Delaware Canal.
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| 2012 Photo by Andrew Pearce via ArchivedBridgeHunter |
Bonus
While looking for street views for the bridge, I noticed this building. I have to wonder if this was a train depot. The Pennsylvania Railroad was on this side of the river, and there was no railroad on the other side. The Railroad is now the
Belvidere & Delaware River RR.
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