The Delair Bridge is a railroad bridge with a vertical-lift section that crosses the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and is the longest free-flowing (undammed) river in the Eastern United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for a ...

between

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, and

Pennsauken Township Pennsauken Township is a township in Camden County, in the Philadelphia Metropolitan Area in the U.S. state of New Jersey, and it is located outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which it borders directly on the Delaware River. As of the 202 ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, just south of the

Betsy Ross Bridge The Betsy Ross Bridge is a continuous steel truss bridge spanning the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Pennsauken, New Jersey. It was built from 1969 to 1974, and opened in April 1976, during the American Bicentennial Year. It ...

. The two-track bridge is part of

Conrail Shared Assets Operations Conrail Shared Assets Operations (CSAO) is the commonly used name for modern-day Conrail (reporting mark CRCX), an American railroad company. It operates three networks, the North Jersey, South Jersey/Philadelphia, and Detroit Shared Assets Are ...

and is jointly used by

Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company was formed in 1982 with the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. The comp ...

and

CSX Transportation CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of track, it is the lead ...

freight trains, as well as by the

New Jersey Transit New Jersey Transit Corporation, branded as NJ Transit or NJTransit and often shortened to NJT, is a state-owned public transportation system that serves the U.S. state of New Jersey and portions of the states of New York and Pennsylvania. It ...

Atlantic City Line The Atlantic City Line (ACL) is a commuter rail line operated by NJ Transit (NJT) in the United States between Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Atlantic City, New Jersey, operating along the corridor of the White Horse Pike. It runs over trackage ...

service.

History

The Delair Bridge, built by the Delaware River Railroad and Bridge Company (a subsidiary of the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad ( reporting mark PRR), legal name as the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, also known as the "Pennsy," was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At its ...

(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 A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss, a structure of connected elements, usually forming triangular units. The connected elements, typically straight, may be stressed from tension, compression, or ...

spans and a through-truss swing-span

drawbridge A drawbridge or draw-bridge is a type of moveable bridge typically at the entrance to a castle or tower surrounded by a moat. In some forms of English, including American English, the word ''drawbridge'' commonly refers to all types of moveable b ...

totaling . Approach trestles of on the Pennsylvania side and on the New Jersey side bring its total length to . Starting in 1958, the PRR converted the bridge into a vertical-lift span to increase clearance for river traffic. The movable link was floated into place in one piece to facilitate installation and minimize delay. 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 The Cape Cod Canal Railroad Bridge (also known as the Buzzards Bay Railroad Bridge) is a vertical lift bridge in Bourne, Massachusetts near Buzzards Bay that carries railroad traffic across the Cape Cod Canal, connecting Cape Cod with the mainla ...

is longer. The bridge was also electrified in the late 1930s, allowing freight trains hauled by

electric locomotive An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or on-board energy storage such as a Battery (electricity), battery or a supercapacitor. Locomotives with on-board fuelled prime mover (locomotive), ...

s to access the

Pavonia Yard Pavonia Yard is a Conrail Shared Assets Operations (CSAO) rail yard in Camden, New Jersey. The yard begins just north of where the Vineland Secondary tracks cross the Cooper River near the intersection of State and Federal Streets, and continu ...

Camden, New Jersey Camden is a City (New Jersey), city in Camden County, New Jersey, Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan region. The city was incorporated on February 13, 1828.Snyder, John P''The Story of ...

, from the

Northeast Corridor The Northeast Corridor (NEC) is an electrified railroad line in the Northeast megalopolis of the United States. Owned primarily by Amtrak, it runs from Boston in the north to Washington, D.C., in the south, with major stops in Providence, Rhod ...

. Electrification was removed by January 1967 but was restored in May 1973. 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 The Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines was a railroad that operated in South Jersey in the 20th century. It was created in 1933 as a joint consolidation venture between two competing railroads in the region: the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Rea ...

service was cut to

Lindenwold station Lindenwold station is a train station in Lindenwold, New Jersey, United States, served by the NJ Transit Atlantic City Line regional rail service and the rapid transit PATCO Speedline. Lindenwold is the eastern terminus of PATCO; the system's ...

after the completion of the

PATCO Speedline The PATCO Speedline, signed as the Lindenwold Line in Philadelphia and commonly referred to as the PATCO High Speed Line, is a rapid transit route operated by the Port Authority Transit Corporation (PATCO), connecting Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ...

, but was restored in 1989 when Amtrak began the '' Atlantic City Express'' service. Amtrak service ended in 1995, but

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 Pennsauken Transit Center (signed as Pennsauken on the Atlantic City Line platforms) is a New Jersey Transit Rail Operations, New Jersey Transit train station in Pennsauken Township, New Jersey, Pennsauken Township, in Camden County, New Jersey ...

project, a station complex where the

River LINE The River Line (stylized as River LINE) is a hybrid rail (light rail with some features similar to commuter rail) service in South Jersey, southern New Jersey that connects the cities of Camden, New Jersey, Camden and Trenton, New Jersey, Trento ...

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

In December 2011, an $18.5 million

Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land ( rail and road), water, cable, pipelines, ...

(TIGER) grant was awarded to South Jersey Port Corporation by the

United States Department of Transportation The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the president of the United States a ...

, partially for rehabilitation of the bridge. The improvements were completed.

References

External links

* *
Delair Bridge
at "Workshop of the World"
Video of rebuilding by Michael Froio 2015
{{Authority control Railroad bridges in New Jersey Vertical lift bridges in the United States Vertical lift bridges in New Jersey Bridges completed in 1896 Railroad bridges in Pennsylvania Bridges in Philadelphia Bridges in Camden County, New Jersey Bridges over the Delaware River Pennsylvania Railroad bridges NJ Transit bridges Pennsauken Township, New Jersey Historic American Engineering Record in Philadelphia Towers in Pennsylvania Steel bridges in the United States Pennsylvania truss bridges in the United States Interstate railroad bridges in the United States South Jersey Port Corporation

History

21st century rehabilitation

See also

References

External links