Benjamin Franklin Bridge

The Benjamin Franklin Bridge – known informally as the Ben Franklin Bridge and originally named the Delaware River Bridge – is a suspension bridge across the Delaware River connecting Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Camden, New Jersey. Along with the Betsy Ross, Walt Whitman, and Tacony-Palmyra Bridges, the Benjamin Franklin is one of four primary vehicular 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 bridge is owned and operated by the Delaware River Port Authority.

 

The chief engineer of the bridge was Polish-born Ralph Modjeski, its design engineer was Leon Moisseiff, and the supervising architect was Paul Philippe Cret. At its completion on July 1, 1926, its 1,750 foot (533 meter) span made it the World's longest suspension bridge span, a distinction it would hold until the opening of the Ambassador Bridge in 1929.

 

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 Port Authority Transit Corporation's Lindenwold High-Speed Line (PATCO Speedline) via connecting tunnels on both sides of the bridge.