The Benjamin Franklin Bridge - originally named Delaware River Bridge , and now informally called Ben Franklin Bridge - is a suspension bridge across the Delaware River connecting Philadelphia , Pennsylvania, and Camden, New Jersey. Owned and operated by the Delaware River Port Authority, it is one of four major vehicle bridges between Philadelphia and southern New Jersey, along with Betsy Ross, Walt Whitman and Tacony-Palmyra bridges. It carries Interstate 676/US. Route 30.
The bridge was presented as part of the 1926 Sesquicentennial Exposure, celebrating the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence of the United States. From 1926 to 1929, it had the longest single range of any suspension bridge in the world.
Video Benjamin Franklin Bridge
Histori
Plans for the bridge to add ferries on the Delaware River began as early as 1818, when a plan envisaged using Smith/Windmill Island, a narrow island off the coast of Philadelphia. But it was only in the 1910s that vision began to approach reality. The Delaware River Bridge Joint Commission (now the Delaware River Port Authority) was founded in 1919.
The chief engineer of the bridge was Polish-born Ralph Modjeski, the design engineer was Leon Moisseiff, and the architect of the overseer was Paul Philippe Cret. The work began on January 6, 1922. At the peak of the construction, 1,300 people worked on the bridge, and 15 people died during its construction. The bridge was originally painted by a commercial painting company owned by David A. Salkind, from Philadelphia, who also painted the Golden Gate Bridge. The bridge was opened for traffic on July 1, 1926, three days ahead of its opening date on the 150th anniversary of the country. Upon completion, a distance of 1750 feet (533 meters) is the longest in the world for suspension bridges, a difference that he held until the opening of the Ambassador Bridge in 1929.
The name was changed to "Benjamin Franklin Bridge" in 1955, as a second Delaware River suspension bridge connecting Philadelphia and New Jersey under construction (Walt Whitman Bridge).
The bridge was closed for vehicles on July 1, 2001, to allow pedestrians to celebrate its 75th birthday.
Maps Benjamin Franklin Bridge
Usage
Rel
The bridge initially included six lanes of vehicles and two tram lines on the main deck, provided for a fast transit line in each direction of truss hardening deck, which climbed above the deck rather than below it. Tracks built to measure nonstandard terrain from the Public Service Company of Camden New Jersey tram system; the design called for the tram to cross the bridge from Camden to Philadelphia, enter the underground terminal under the west bridge entrance plaza, and return to Camden via the opposite lane. The tram station is also built on the anchor bridge. None of the tram facilities were ever placed in service, since the Public Service did not run the car on the bridge from its opening until the company left the Camden tramway system in 1932; after that, the rails are removed, and the space is converted into a vehicle lane.
The outer pair of fast transit tracks began operation in 1936 with the opening of the Bridge Line subway connecting Broadway and City Hall in Camden with 8th and Market Streets in Philadelphia; The Bridge Line, extended to 16 and Locust in 1952, began carrying the PATCO train in 1969. Today, it brings the PATCO Speedline, which descends into the tunnels on both sides of the bridge. Secondly, the railway and railway structure of Eastbound and Westbound was reconstructed from June 2014 and completed in October 2014.
Road
The bridge carries the I-676 and US 30 highways, but only the New Jersey section of the bridge carries I-676, since the section of the bridge is approaching the Pennsylvania side not up to interstate highway standards, including traffic crossings at the level. The Pennsylvania section I-676 (which runs East/West, and not North/South like I-676 New Jersey) ends at the sloping lane to I-95. I-676 signed on the bridge of both sides, however, becomes less confusing for drivers. Before the re-shooting of New Jersey state highways in 1953, the New Jersey Route 25 (Route 25), Route 43, and Route 45 ended in the middle of the bridge, and I-76 was signed on the bridge until 1972, when the route changed with I -676, who until then ran across the Walt Whitman Bridge.
"Zipper" barrier
Seven trajectories of vehicles are divided by concrete "zipper" barriers, which can be mechanically moved to configure lanes for traffic or construction volumes. The red and green signals mounted on the gantries above indicate which lanes are open or closed for traffic in each direction. Lights indicate closure for construction, accident or damage as well as traffic separators. Generally, during the morning rush hour, there are four lines that open west and three to the east, with the situation upside down during the afternoon rush hour. Before the zipper barrier was installed in 2000-01, a single bridge lane remained closed at peak times to reduce the risk of direct collisions as there was no physical barrier separating traffic from east and west.
Tolls
- A $ 5.00 one-way freeway fare is charged to a western passenger vehicle (less than 7,000 pounds (3,200 kg) of gross vehicle weight).
- Trucks, commercial vehicles, mobile homes, and recreational vehicles (weighing at least 7,000 pounds (3,200 kg), gross vehicle weight), pay $ 7.50 per axle.
- The elderly 65 and over can use a discount program to pay $ 2.50 per trip (integrated with E-ZPass).
Camden-Philadelphia BRT Proposed
There was a proposal for Camden-Philadelphia BRT, a bus rapid transit system between two cities that extended to Camden and Gloucester that would use the bridge.
Sidewalks
Pedestrians walk on both sides of the bridge, elevated and separated from the vehicle track; this is, only one is open at a time. DRPA temporarily closed the sidewalk to the public a day after the July 7, 2005 bombing in London, citing security concerns. The DRPA also closes the road after a snowfall, or if the weather forecast includes the possibility of snowfall, and closes it at the end of August 2011 during Hurricane Irene and at the end of October 2012 during Hurricane Sandy.
See also
- Bridge portal
- Portal Pennsylvania
- Philadelphia Portal
- New Jersey Portal
- Delaware River crossing list
References
External links
- Ben Franklin Bridge Photo Portfolio by Michael Penn
- Benjamin Franklin Bridge, Historical Overview , by Steve Anderson.
- Benjamin Franklin Bridge in Structurae
- Official Delaware Port Authority Authority
- PATCO Authorized Site
- Slideshow
- Speedliner Newspaper Web site
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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