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Encyclopedia > Benjamin Franklin Bridge
Benjamin Franklin Bridge
Benjamin Franklin Bridge
Official name Benjamin Franklin Bridge
Carries 7 lanes of I-676 and US 30, 2 PATCO rail lines, and 2 sidewalks
Crosses Delaware River
Locale Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Camden, New Jersey
Maintained by Delaware River Port Authority of Pennsylvania and New Jersey
ID number 4500010
Design steel suspension bridge
Longest span 533.4 meters (1,750 feet)
Total length 2,917.85 meters (9,573 feet)
Width 39.01 meters (128 feet)
Vertical clearance 5.12 meters (16.8 feet)
Clearance below 41.19 meters (135 feet)
Opening date July 1, 1926
Toll $3.00 (westbound) (E-ZPass)
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The Benjamin Franklin Bridge (also known simply as the Ben Franklin Bridge), originally named the Delaware River Bridge, is a suspension bridge across the Delaware River connecting Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Camden, New Jersey. Named for American statesman Benjamin Franklin, the bridge is owned and operated by the Delaware River Port Authority. The chief engineer was Ralph Modjeski, its design engineer was Leon Moisseiff and the supervising architect was Paul Philippe Cret. At its completion on July 1, 1926, its 533-metre span made it the world's largest suspension bridge, a distinction it would hold until the opening of the Ambassador Bridge in 1929. Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ... Interstate 676 (abbreviated I-676) is an interstate highway that serves as a major thoroughfare through Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Camden, New Jersey. ... United States Highway 30 is an east-west United States highway that traverses the United States. ... A Philadelphia-bound PATCO train arrives at Woodcrest Station. ... For the Delaware River in Kansas, see Delaware River (Kansas) The Delaware River is a river on the Atlantic coast of the United States. ... Nickname: City of Brotherly Love, Philly, the Quaker City Motto: Philadelphia maneto (Let brotherly love continue) Location in Pennsylvania Coordinates: Country United States State Pennsylvania County Philadelphia Founded October 27, 1682 Incorporated October 25, 1701 Mayor John F. Street (D) Area    - City 369. ... The City of Camden is the county seat of Camden County, New Jersey in the United States. ... The Delaware River Port Authority or DRPA is a bi-state government agency of the State of New Jersey and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. ... The National Bridge Inventory (NBI) is a database, compiled by the Federal Highway Administration, with information on all bridges and tunnels in the United States that have roads passing above or below. ... For other uses, see Steel (disambiguation). ... A suspension bridge is a type of bridge that has been created since ancient times as early as 100 AD. Simple suspension bridges, for use by pedestrians and livestock, are still constructed, based upon the ancient Inca rope bridge. ... is the 182nd day of the year (183rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1926 (MCMXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Image File history File links Commons-logo. ... Image File history File links Portal. ... A suspension bridge is a type of bridge that has been created since ancient times as early as 100 AD. Simple suspension bridges, for use by pedestrians and livestock, are still constructed, based upon the ancient Inca rope bridge. ... For the Delaware River in Kansas, see Delaware River (Kansas) The Delaware River is a river on the Atlantic coast of the United States. ... Nickname: City of Brotherly Love, Philly, the Quaker City Motto: Philadelphia maneto (Let brotherly love continue) Location in Pennsylvania Coordinates: Country United States State Pennsylvania County Philadelphia Founded October 27, 1682 Incorporated October 25, 1701 Mayor John F. Street (D) Area    - City 369. ... The City of Camden is the county seat of Camden County, New Jersey in the United States. ... Benjamin Franklin (January 17 [O.S. January 6] 1706 – April 17, 1790) was one of the most well known Founding Fathers of the United States. ... The Delaware River Port Authority or DRPA is a bi-state government agency of the State of New Jersey and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. ... Ralph Modjeski (born Rudolf Modrzejewski) (1861-1940) was a Polish-born engineer who achieved prominence in the United States. ... Leon Moisseiff was an American architect primarily notable for having inadequately designed the Tacoma Narrows Bridge across Puget Sound. ... Paul Philippe Cret (October 24, 1876, Lyon, France – September 8, 1945, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) was a French-American architect and industrial designer. ... is the 182nd day of the year (183rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1926 (MCMXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge has the largest span of any bridge This list of the largest suspension bridges ranks the worlds suspension bridges by the length of main span (distance between the suspension towers). ... The Ambassador Bridge is a privately owned suspension bridge that connects Detroit, Michigan, in the United States, with Windsor, Ontario, in Canada. ...


The bridge currently carries highways I-676 and US 30, the latter since its opening or very soon thereafter. Before the 1953 New Jersey State Highway renumbering, Route 25, Route 43 and Route 45 ended in the middle of the bridge. The bridge also carries the PATCO Speedline rail line via connecting tunnels on both sides of the bridge. Interstate 676 (abbreviated I-676) is an interstate highway that serves as a major thoroughfare through Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Camden, New Jersey. ... This U.S. Highway article needs to be cleaned up to conform to both a higher standard of article quality and accepted design standards outlined in the WikiProject U.S. Highways. ... On January 1, 1953, the New Jersey Department of Transportation renumbered a lot of the State Highways. ... Route 25 was a major state highway in New Jersey, United States prior to the 1953 renumbering, running from the Ben Franklin Bridge in Camden to the Holland Tunnel in Jersey City. ... Route 43 was a state highway in the U.S. state of New Jersey from 1927 to 1953. ... New Jersey State Highway 45 is a state highway in New Jersey, United States. ... A Philadelphia-bound PATCO train arrives at Woodcrest Station. ...


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. Walkway hours are 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (7:00 p.m. during daylight saving time). The DRPA temporarily closed the walkways to the public the day after the 7 July 2005 London bombings, citing security concerns. The DRPA also closes the walkway after snowfall. Though DST is common in Europe and North America, most of the worlds people do not use it. ... Locations of the bombings, overlaid onto a real-path map of the London Underground The 7 July 2005 London bombings (also called the 7/7 bombings) were a series of coordinated terrorist bomb blasts that hit Londons public transport system during the morning rush hour. ...


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. Tolls ($3 for passenger cars) are charged only in the westbound, Camden-to-Philadelphia direction. Prior to addition of the zipper barrier, the bridge was barrier-less -- lanes were lit green or red to indicate whether they were open or closed, and they changed daily to accommodate rush hour traffic. Barrier Transfer machines, also known as Zipper Machines, are heavy vehicles used to transfer Jersey barriers or other concrete lane dividers to relieve traffic congestion during rush hours. ...


Along with the Betsy Ross, Walt Whitman, and Tacony-Palmyra Bridges, the Benjamin Franklin is one of four primary bridges between Philadelphia and southern New Jersey. The Commodore Barry Bridge in Delaware County, Pennsylvania and the Burlington-Bristol Bridge in Bucks County, Pennsylvania connect suburban Philadelphia with southern New Jersey. The Betsy Ross Bridge is a truss bridge spanning the Delaware River from Philadelphia to Pennsauken, New Jersey. ... The Walt Whitman Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Delaware River from Philadelphia to Gloucester City, New Jersey. ... The Tacony-Palmyra Bridge is an arch bridge with a double drawbridge connecting Route 73 in Palmyra, New Jersey to the Tacony section of Philadelphia. ... For other uses, see Philadelphia (disambiguation) and Philly. ... “NJ” redirects here. ... The Commodore Barry Bridge is a cantilever bridge that spans the Delaware River from Chester, Pennsylvania to Bridgeport, New Jersey, USA. It is named after the American Revolutionary War hero and Philadelphia resident, John Barry. ... Delaware County (also known colloquially as Delco) is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. ... The Burlington-Bristol Bridge is a truss bridge with a lift span crossing the Delaware River from Burlington, New Jersey to Bristol, Pennsylvania in the United States. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... For other uses, see Philadelphia (disambiguation) and Philly. ... “NJ” redirects here. ...


Trivia

  • A May-July 2006 production of the musical Godspell at the historic Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, directed by Matt Radell, was set under the Franklin Bridge, with Jesus' followers portrayed as homeless who live in a shanty there.
  • The bridge's two stone anchoring houses each contain a "phantom railway station". The stations were built for a planned trolley line that was to run over the bridge. The two sides, it turns out, used different grades of track, and could not meet up in the center. As it happened, the then-"Bridge Line" (the subway line that ran as far as the Broadway stop in Camden, NJ and was later incorporated into the PATCO line in 1969) served the cross-bridge traffic adequately, and the trolley line has never been finished, but the stations were, right down to tile decorations on the walls and floors. WPVI-TV Channel 6 reporter Don Polec once did a news report on these stations.

Godspell is a 1970 play by John-Michael Tebelak. ... The Walnut Street Theatre (or simply The Walnut) is the oldest continuously-operating theatre in the English speaking world, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at 825 Walnut Street. ... For other uses, see Philadelphia (disambiguation) and Philly. ... Tweeter Center The City of Camden is the county seat of Camden County, New Jersey in the United States. ... PATCO can stand for: Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization Port Authority Transit Corporation This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... WPVI-TV, channel 6, is an owned-and-operated station of the Walt Disney Company-owned American Broadcasting Company, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ...

See also

George Washington crossing the Delaware River prior to the Battle of Trenton. ...

External links

Crossings of the Delaware River
Upstream
Delair Bridge
Benjamin Franklin Bridge
Downstream
RiverLink Ferry
World's longest suspension bridge
Preceded by
Bear Mountain Bridge
1926–1929
Benjamin Franklin Bridge
Superseded by
Ambassador Bridge


 
 

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