(
Archived Bridge Hunter;
Bridge Hunter; no Historic Bridges;
Satellite)
This arch-truss bridge has a length of 6571' (2km, 1 1/4 mile) and a main span of 682' (208m). [BridgeHunter]
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Photo from Wikimedia Commons via BridgeHunter |
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Metrotrails posted PA Turnpike bridge seen from the Florence NJ side, Delaware River Metrotrails shared |
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Michael E Pearson added The Delaware River-Turnpike Toll Bridge carries Interstate 95 across the Delaware River via a 1956 built, 682 foot [208m] steel arch span; with a total length of 6751 feet [2km], connecting the Pennsylvania and New Jersey Turnpikes between Bucks and Burlington Counties in PA & NJ respectively. This was not a low pass drone shot, but rather, it was handheld from onboard a boat. |
I think it is more accurate to call it a continuous truss instead of an arch truss. I wondered why Historic Bridges didn't document this bridge because Nathan is better at identifying a continuous truss. So, I took a closer look at a gusset plate. It uses bolts instead of rivets. Bolts are Nathan's criteria for a modern bridge instead of a historic bridge. This bridge must be bleeding edge in terms of using bolts. You can see it is a transition of technology because it uses rivets instead of welds to build the beams. (Update: Jon H comments below that the bolts were probably used during an upgrade. It was probably built with rivets. Jon also mentioned that I-95 was rerouted to this bridge in the mid 2000's.)
I knew the Pennsy Turnpike was I-76 in the Pittsburgh area. I didn't know where the turnpike crossed the Delaware River so I followed I-76 east across the state. When I found myself down in Philadelphia on the
Walt Whitman Bridge, I knew that the turnpike must divert to some other Interstate in the east. So I found this map and determined that it goes from I-76
to I-276 and then
to I-95 just before the river.
Just two lanes in each direction carries the east/west traffic of the turnpike and the north/south traffic of I-95. I confirmed that they squeeze three lanes down to two before the bridge. I wonder how much congestion that choke point causes.