George C. Platt Bridge
| George C. Platt Memorial Bridge | |
|---|---|
Platt Bridge, looking south
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| Coordinates | 39°53′53″N 75°12′42″W |
| Carries | 4 lanes of  PA 291 (Penrose Avenue) |
| Crosses | Schuylkill River |
| Locale | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Official name | George C. Platt Memorial Bridge |
| Maintained by | PennDOT |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | through truss bridge |
| Total length | 8,780 feet (2,680 m) |
| Width | 48 feet (15 m) |
| Longest span | 680 ft (207 m) |
| Clearance above | 17.5 feet (5.3 m) |
| History | |
| Construction begin | Late 1940s |
| Construction end | Early 1950s |
| Opened | 1951 |
| Statistics | |
| Daily traffic | 56,000 |
| Toll | free |
Coordinates: 39°53′53″N 75°12′42″W / 39.89806°N 75.21167°W
The George C. Platt Memorial Bridge is a through truss bridge that carries PA 291 (Penrose Avenue) over the Schuylkill River in Southwest Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was opened to traffic in 1951, replacing a swing bridge to the south which carried Penrose Ferry Road across the river. Originally called the Penrose Avenue Bridge, it was renamed in 1979 to honor Civil War hero George Crawford Platt (1842–1912). Today, the Platt Bridge is a key arterial route which carries an average of 56,000 vehicles daily.
The bridge passes over an oil refinery (originally owned by Gulf Oil, then by Sun Oil, now by Philadelphia Energy Solutions). It has been imperiled a few times by fires at the refinery. On August 17, 1975, fire broke out in a tank to the northeast of the bridge that was being filled with Venezuelan crude oil. As the fire enveloped much of the refinery, several explosions put a large crack in a smokestack next to the bridge. Officials closed the bridge for several hours, fearing that the stack might collapse or the fire might damage the bridge. The 1975 Philadelphia Refinery Fire also killed eight firefighters.
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