Delaware Memorial Bridge

This photo shows the twin-span Delaware Memorial Bridge (I-295 and US 40) looking east (north) toward Pennsville, New Jersey. (Photo by Dave Watts.) Frequent traveler discounts are available to DE and NJ EZ-Pass holders. Toll schedule for all vehicles FULFILLING A LONG-SOUGHT DREAM: Since the 1920s, residents of Delaware and New Jersey had pressured officials for a fixed crossing between southern New Jersey and the Wilmington-New Castle area of Delaware. With the successful opening of the new Delaware River (Benjamin Franklin) Bridge some 30 miles upstream in Philadelphia, such a crossing appeared feasible. The proposed Delaware-New Jersey span was estimated to cost $12 million. As an interim measure, the two states established a ferry service between Pennsville, New Jersey and New Castle, Delaware (near the site of the current bridge) in 1926. Workers help construct the main cables in 1950 (left photo) and raise a truss 160 feet above the water in early 1951 (top photo).(Photos by Peter Stackpole, via the "Bridges Now and Then" Facebook group.) DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION: Designed by famed bridge designer Othmar Ammann, the Delaware Memorial Bridge held true to the design standards, such as deep stiffening trusses and streamlined towers, that characterized his other postwar works including the Walt Whitman Bridge (opened in 1957), the Throgs Neck Bridge (opened in 1961) and the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge (opened in 1964). From tower to tower, the main span of the Delaware Memorial Bridge measures 2,150 feet long. Including approaches, the bridge measures approximately two and one-half miles long. The two 4,100-foot-long main cables are 20 inches in diameter. Each cable is composed of 19 strands, and each strand is made up of 436 separate 3/16-inch-diameter steel wires. Together, approximately 12,000 miles of wire were spun for the span. The main cables are spun across the bridge's two 417-foot-high towers, which together help suspend the roadway 188 feet above the Delaware River. As required by the Secretaries of the Army and Navy, the bridge was constructed with a high clearance to allow even the tallest ships to enter the port of Philadelphia-Camden and the Philadelphia Navy Yard. The roadway accommodated four 12-foot-wide traffic lanes, two lanes in each direction. The bridge foundation on the Delaware side measures 95 feet by 221 feet, while the foundation on the New Jersey side measures 99 feet by 225 feet. The foundations were first prefabricated in the New Jersey shipyard and towed downriver. Next came the concrete pour for each caisson - approximately 27,000 tons - that lasted seven days, the longest continuous pour until that time. The foundations were submerged 70 feet into the Delaware side of the river, and 110 feet into the New Jersey side. The construction of the anchorages was also massive: both anchorages each required 23,200 tons of concrete. Since the anchorages were also built in the Delaware River, their placement required the construction of two cofferdams, each measuring 100 feet by 225 feet. The cofferdams were sunk 70 feet below the low water mark. On April 22, 1951, the steel trusses from each side of the bridge were connected, paving the way for roadway construction. While the deck paving was underway, work on the Delaware and New Jersey approaches was underway. The original Delaware Memorial Bridge opened on August 16, 1951, at a cost of $44 million and four lives. When it opened, the bridge, which featured the sixth-longest main suspension span in the world, was named the most beautiful large steel span of 1951 by the American Institute of Steel Construction. Governor Driscoll of New Jersey and Governor Carvel of Delaware dedicated the new bridge to the World War II dead of their respective states. This photo from the mid-1950s shows the Delaware Memorial Bridge looking east (north) toward New Jersey. (Photo by Delaware River and Bay Authority.) BUILT FOR THE EXPRESSWAY ERA: Including approache