Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad Bridge No. 1
| Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad Bridge No. 1 | |
|---|---|
2011 photo
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| Coordinates | 39°56′26″N 75°12′18″W / 39.9406°N 75.2050°WCoordinates: 39°56′26″N 75°12′18″W / 39.9406°N 75.2050°W |
| Crosses | Schuylkill River |
| Locale | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Other name(s) | Grays Ferry Railroad Bridge, PRR South Philadelphia Branch Bridge |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Through truss swing bridge |
| Material | Steel |
| Longest span | 226.6 feet (69.1 m) |
| History | |
| Engineering design by | American Bridge Company |
| Inaugurated | 1902 |
| Opened | 1902 |
| Closed | 1976 |
| Replaces | Newkirk Viaduct |
Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad Bridge No. 1 is a swing steel through truss that spans the Schuylkill River between Philadelphia, Pennsylvania's Kingsessing and Grays Ferry neighborhoods. Abandoned in 1976, the bridge is part of a long succession of ferry and bridge crossings that linked Philadelphia to points south. It was built in 1901 for the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad by American Bridge Company.
As of August 2016, the bridge's truss is slated to be removed and replaced by a new swing bridge that will become part of the Schuylkill River Trail, a bike trail, with construction tentatively slated to begin in 2017.
The bridge's location has been a major crossing point since the establishment of a ferry here as early as the 17th century and certainly by 1740. In 1777, British troops built a pontoon bridge here during their occupation of Philadelphia, and the newly independent Americans subsequently kept it up, replacing parts as necessary after floods. In 1838, the PW&B built the first permanent bridge here to complete the first direct rail link from Philadelphia to Wilmington, Delaware, and Baltimore, Maryland. Called the Newkirk Viaduct, it was a covered wooden bridge that carried a road as well as one track. The bridge did not initially allow locomotives to pass so the cars were (at least until 1844) pulled by horses over the river and northward along three miles of track to the terminus of the PW&B. A new draw span was constructed in 1891, but maintenance remained difficult for the rest of the decade.
In 1901, when the city of Philadelphia opened an adjacent highway bridge, it absolved the PW&B of the responsibility of carrying the road traffic, and the railroad promptly began building the PW&B Bridge No. 1.
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