Benjamin Franklin Bridge
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Benjamin Franklin Bridge | ||
---|---|---|
Clearance above 135 feet (41 m) | | |
Clearance below | 41.19 feet (12.55 m) | |
History | ||
Construction cost | $37,103,765[1] | |
Opened | July 1, 1926 | |
Statistics | ||
Daily traffic | 100,000 | |
Toll | Cars $5.00; Trucks over 7,000 lbs $7.50/axle; Buses $3.75/axle (westbound into PA) (E-ZPass) | |
Official name | Benjamin Franklin Bridge over the Delaware River | |
Designated | December 12, 2003[2] | |
Location | ||
The Benjamin Franklin Bridge, originally named the Delaware River Bridge and known locally as the Ben Franklin Bridge, is a
The bridge was dedicated as part of the 1926 Sesquicentennial Exposition, celebrating the 150th anniversary of the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence. From 1926 to 1929, it had the longest single span of any suspension bridge in the world.
History
19th century
Plans for a bridge to augment the ferries across the Delaware River began as early as 1818, when one plan envisioned using Smith Island, a narrow island off the Philadelphia shore that was removed in 1893. Local engineer John C. Trautwine proposed a four-span suspension bridge in 1851. In 1868, a committee of Philadelphia and Camden interests proposed a unique design with two parallel low-level drawbridge spans which would allow ships to pass in stages without interrupting traffic across the bridge. A later proposal by John Alexander Low Waddell employed helical approaches to avoid purchasing expensive land for approaches to a high-level suspension bridge. None of these proposals were constructed.
20th century
To find a permanent solution, the Delaware River Bridge Joint Commission, now the Delaware River Port Authority, was created in 1919.[3]
The chief engineer of the bridge was Polish-born Ralph Modjeski,[4] the design engineer was Leon Moisseiff,[5] the supervising architect was Paul Philippe Cret,[5] and the construction engineer was Montgomery B. Case.[6] Work began on January 6, 1922.
At the peak of construction, 1,300 people worked on the bridge, and 15 died during its construction.[7] The bridge was originally painted by a commercial painting company owned by David A. Salkind, of Philadelphia, which also painted the Golden Gate Bridge.[4] The bridge opened to traffic on July 1, 1926, three days ahead of its scheduled opening on the nation's 150th anniversary. At completion, its 1,750-foot (533-meter) span was the world's longest for a suspension bridge, a distinction it held until the opening of the Ambassador Bridge in 1929.
The name was changed to "Benjamin Franklin Bridge" in 1955, since a second Delaware River suspension bridge connecting Philadelphia and New Jersey, the Walt Whitman Bridge, was under construction.
21st century
The bridge was closed to vehicles on July 1, 2001, to allow pedestrians to celebrate its 75th anniversary.[8]
Uses
Rail
The bridge originally included six vehicle lanes and two streetcar tracks on the main deck, with provision for a rapid transit track in each direction outboard of the deck's stiffening trusses, which rise above the deck rather than lie beneath it. The tracks were built to the nonstandard broad gauge of the Public Service Corporation of New Jersey's Camden streetcar system;[citation needed] the design called for the streetcars to cross the bridge from Camden to Philadelphia, enter an underground terminal beneath the bridge's west entrance plaza, and return to Camden via the opposite track.[9] Streetcar stations were also built in the bridge's anchorages.[10] None of the streetcar facilities were ever placed in service, as Public Service ran no cars across the bridge from its opening until the company abandoned its Camden streetcar system in 1932;[10] after that, the tracks were removed, and the space was converted to vehicular lanes.[11]
The outer pair of rapid transit tracks went into service in 1936 with the opening of the Bridge Line subway connecting Broadway and City Hall in Camden with 8th and Market Streets in Philadelphia.
Roads
The bridge carries highways
"Zipper" barrier
The seven vehicular lanes are divided by a concrete "zipper" barrier, which can be mechanically moved to configure the lanes for traffic volume or construction.[13] Red and green signals mounted on overhead gantries indicate which lanes are open or closed to traffic in each direction. The lights indicate closures for construction, accidents or breakdown as well as traffic separation. Generally, during the morning rush hour, there are four lanes open westbound and three eastbound, with the situation reversed during the evening rush hour. Before the zipper barrier was installed in 2000-2001, one lane of the bridge was kept closed at peak times to reduce the risk of head-on collisions as there was no physical barrier separating east and westbound traffic.
Tolls
Effective July 2011, one-way tolls to cross the bridge are charged in the westbound (towards Pennsylvania) direction. The charges include:
- A $5.00 toll is charged to westbound passenger vehicles (less than 7,000 lb (3,200 kg) gross vehicle weight).[14]
- Trucks, commercial vehicles, mobile homes, and recreation vehicles (weighing at least 7,000 lb (3,200 kg). gross vehicle weight), pay $7.50 per axle.[14]
- Seniors aged 65 and older can use a discount program integrated with E-ZPass to pay $2.50 per trip.[15]
Proposed Camden-Philadelphia BRT
There are proposals for a
Walkways
Pedestrian walkways run along both sides of the bridge, elevated over and separated from the vehicular lanes; of these, only one is open at a time. The DRPA temporarily closed the walkways to the public the day after the
See also
- Transport portal
- Engineering portal
- Pennsylvania portal
- Philadelphia portal
- New Jersey portal
- List of crossings of the Delaware River
References
- ^ "DRPA :: Delaware River Port Authority". drpa.org. Archived from the original on 2013-08-17. Retrieved 2014-05-06.
- ^ "Phila Register no addr" (PDF). phila.gov. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
- S2CID 119751258.
- ^ a b "Auto Parking to Be Banned in Bridge Area". The Philadelphia Inquirer. 1926-06-19. p. 4.
- ^ a b "Ben Franklin Bridge". Delaware River Port Authority. Archived from the original on 2022-09-05. Retrieved 2022-10-08.
- ^ "In University Circles". The Nebraska State Journal. 22 January 1922.
- ISBN 978-0738562582
- ^ "Ben Franklin Bridge Celebration". bridgepros.com. Archived from the original on 2012-01-01.
- ^ DeNardo, Mike (15 September 2014). "Thousands Cross Ben Franklin Bridge Daily, But How Many Know Its Secret?". CBS Philadelphia. Retrieved 2022-10-18.
- ^ a b Stuart, Sarah Clark (2018-08-09). "Touring the inside of the Ben Franklin Bridge Anchorage". Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia. Retrieved 2022-10-18.
- ^ Caroulis, John (2019-03-15). "The art museum that's also a bridge". PhillyVoice. Retrieved 2022-10-18.
- ^ a b "DRPA - About Delaware River Port Authority". Delaware River Port Authority. Archived from the original on 2022-10-10. Retrieved 2022-10-18.
- OCLC 5794616505. Retrieved 2022-10-17.
- ^ a b "DRPA - Travel Info". Delaware River Port Authority. Archived from the original on 2022-10-14. Retrieved 2022-10-18.
- ^ "DRPA - Travel Info". Delaware River Port Authority. Archived from the original on 2022-10-13. Retrieved 2022-10-18.
- ^ "South Jersey Bus Rapid Transit System". NJ TRANSIT. Archived from the original on 2022-10-08. Retrieved 2022-10-08.