The Amtrak Susquehanna River Bridge is a Howe deck truss structure that carries two tracks of

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

Northeast Corridor The Northeast Corridor (NEC) is an electrified railroad line in the Northeast megalopolis of the United States. Owned primarily by Amtrak, it runs from Boston through Providence, New Haven, Stamford, New York City, Philadelphia, Wilmington, a ...

line across the

Susquehanna River The Susquehanna River (; Lenape: Siskëwahane) is a major river located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, overlapping between the lower Northeast and the Upland South. At long, it is the longest river on the East Coast of the ...

between Havre de Grace and Perryville,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

History

The vicinity of the bridge has been used as a river crossing for more than 300 years. In 1695, the colonial

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...

granted the first licenses to operate a ferry between Perryville and what is now Havre de Grace. In 1837, railroad lines south from

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington ( Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...

, and north from

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arrived at the riverbanks. For 29 years, including the duration of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, a

train ferry A train ferry is a ship (ferry) designed to carry railway vehicles. Typically, one level of the ship is fitted with railway tracks, and the vessel has a door at the front and/or rear to give access to the wharves. In the United States, train f ...

carried passengers (on foot) and freight cars between the two towns. In 1854, a larger ferryboat began to transport entire passenger cars across the river. In 1866, after 12 years of intermittent construction, the

Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railroad The Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad (PW&B) was an American railroad that operated independently from 1836 to 1881. It was formed in 1836 by the merger of four state-chartered railroads in three Middle Atlantic states to create a ...

(PW&B) completed a wooden single-track

railroad bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

. Iron reinforcements were added between 1874 and 1880. In 1881, when the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...

(PRR) formally took control of the PW&B, it cut rival

Baltimore & Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of ...

's access to the PW&B. The B&O was forced to construct a parallel route between Baltimore and

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, including a new bridge about upstream. In 1904-06, the PRR replaced the PW&B crossing with a new bridge just a few yards upstream. Construction on the main structure started on August 5, 1905, and the first train rode over the bridge on May 26, 1906. The bridge was made parallel to the old bridge. The

Pennsylvania Steel Company The Pennsylvania Steel Company was the name of two Pennsylvania steel companies. The original company was established in late 1865 by: J. Edgar Thomson, president of the Pennsylvania Railroad, Samuel Morse Felton Sr., recently retired president of ...

erected the west half of the bridge and the

American Bridge Company The American Bridge Company is a heavy/civil construction firm that specializes in building and renovating bridges and other large, complex structures. Founded in 1900, the company is headquartered in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pitts ...

erected the east half. A strike of American Bridge Company's employees delayed construction. The bridge was 4,154 feet in length: eight spans 260 feet in length, seven spans 200 feet and 9 inches in length and a draw span of 260 feet. Opened on May 29, 1906, it includes a center swing span to increase vertical clearance for water traffic from the nominal . In 1934, the PRR began installing

catenary In physics and geometry, a catenary (, ) is the curve that an idealized hanging chain or cable assumes under its own weight when supported only at its ends in a uniform gravitational field. The catenary curve has a U-like shape, superficia ...

on the span to help extend 11,000-volt electrification south from Wilmington to

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Regular electrified passenger service across the bridge began on February 10, 1935. Ownership of the bridge passed to Amtrak in 1976 when it acquired much of the Northeast Corridor infrastructure.

Present status

As of 2006, about 100 Amtrak and

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passenger trains crossed the bridge each weekday at ; about 12 freight trains a day crossed at . Freight traffic, operated by

Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31 ...

under a

trackage rights Railway companies can interact with and control others in many ways. These relationships can be complicated by bankruptcies. Operating Often, when a railroad first opens, it is only a short spur of a main line. The owner of the spur line may con ...

agreement, is generally restricted to nighttime hours to avoid interfering with passenger operations. The only significant commercial water traffic under the bridge consists of barges from a large granite quarry just upstream of Havre de Grace. The bridge's swing span rarely needs to be opened; vessels that require such an opening must provide 24-hour advance notice. In 2005 and 2007, Amtrak replaced the

ties TIES may refer to: * TIES, Teacher Institute for Evolutionary Science * TIES, The Interactive Encyclopedia System * TIES, Time Independent Escape Sequence * Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science * The International Ecotourism Society The Inter ...

on the bridge, installed

continuous welded rail A railway track (British English and UIC terminology) or railroad track (American English), also known as permanent way or simply track, is the structure on a railway or railroad consisting of the rails, fasteners, railroad ties (sleepers, ...

, and installed new deck-level maintenance walkways, changes meant to extend the life of the bridge by 20 to 25 years. In May 2011, the

U.S. Department of Transportation The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the President of the United States and ...

announced $22 million in funding for engineering and environmental work to replace the bridge. (The Bush River and

Gunpowder River The Gunpowder River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 tidal inlet on the western side of Chesapeake Bay in Maryland, United States. It is formed by the jo ...

bridges, two spans of similar age on the Northeast Corridor in Maryland, were also under consideration for replacement.) The project study began in 2013 and was completed in 2017. In 2017, Amtrak identified the bridge replacement as one of their 'Ready To Build' projects for the Northeast Corridor. In November 2022, Amtrak announced plans to replace the bridge, with design and construction contracts to be awarded in 2023 by Amtrak, the FRA, and MDOT MTA.

References

External links

Susquehanna River Rail Bridge Project
{{Crossings navbox , structure = Bridges , place =

, bridge = Amtrak Susquehanna River Bridge , bridge signs = , upstream =

Thomas J. Hatem Memorial Bridge The Thomas J. Hatem Memorial Bridge is a road bridge in northeast Maryland that crosses the Susquehanna River between Havre de Grace and Perryville via Garrett Island. It carries U.S. Route 40. It is the oldest of the eight toll facilities op ...

, upstream signs = US 40

, downstream = P.W. & B. Railroad Bridge (Ruin) , downstream signs = Amtrak bridges Bridges completed in 1906 Bridges over the Susquehanna River Buildings and structures in Havre de Grace, Maryland Pennsylvania Railroad bridges Railroad bridges in Maryland Steel bridges in the United States Bridges in Cecil County, Maryland Bridges in Harford County, Maryland 1906 establishments in Maryland