The Indian River is a river and

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...

, approximately long, in Sussex County in southern

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The river is named after a Native American reservation that was located on its upper reaches. The Indian River rises approximately southwest of Georgetown and flows east, past Millsboro, its

head of navigation The head of navigation is the farthest point above the mouth of a river that can be navigated by ships. Determining the head of navigation can be subjective on many streams, as the point may vary greatly with the size or the draft of the ship be ...

. It enters

Indian River Bay Indian River Bay is a body of water in Sussex County, Delaware. It is part of Delaware's inland bay system, along with Little Assawoman Bay and Rehoboth Bay. Fed by the Indian River at its western end, the bay is connected to the Atlantic Ocean ...

, an inlet of the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

south of

Cape Henlopen Cape Henlopen is the southern cape of the Delaware Bay along the Atlantic coast of the United States. It lies in the state of Delaware, near the town of Lewes, where the Delaware Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean. Off the coast on the bay side are two ...

. The lower of the river form a navigable tidal estuary stretching westward from Indian River Bay, which is protected from the open ocean by two sand bar peninsulas. East of the bay is its mouth, the Indian River Inlet. Until 1928, the Indian River Inlet was a natural waterway that shifted up and down a two-mile (3.2 km) stretch of the coast.

Dredging Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing da ...

kept the inlet open in its current location between 1928 and 1937, and in 1938 the

United States Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

built

jetties A jetty is a structure that projects from land out into water. A jetty may serve as a breakwater, as a walkway, or both; or, in pairs, as a means of constricting a channel. The term derives from the French word ', "thrown", signifying somet ...

that hold it in place.Titus, M. Patricia, "Ball now in state’s court on IR Inlet Bridge," ''Coastal Point'', undated.
/ref> Indian River Inlet Bridge DE1

Roads cross the river in three places, at U.S. Route 113 (in Millsboro),

Delaware Route 24 Delaware Route 24 (DE 24) is a state highway located in Sussex County, Delaware. The route runs from Maryland Route 348 (MD 348) at the Maryland border east of Sharptown, Maryland, east to an intersection with DE 1 in ...

Delaware Route 30 Delaware Route 30 (DE 30) is a state highway in Sussex County, Delaware. The route runs from an intersection with Bi-State Boulevard a short distance west of U.S. Route 13 (US 13) between Laurel and Delmar to DE 1 Bu ...

(also in Millsboro), and

Delaware Route 1 Delaware Route 1 (DE 1) is the longest numbered state highway in the U.S. state of Delaware. The route runs from the Maryland state line in Fenwick Island, Sussex County, where the road continues south into that state as Maryland R ...

(at Indian River Inlet in the

Delaware Seashore State Park Delaware Seashore State Park is located near Dewey Beach, in Delaware, United States. It is bounded on the east by the Atlantic Ocean and on the west by Rehoboth Bay and Indian River Bay. The park covers . It is a major attraction for millions o ...

). With the Indian River Inlet in a fixed place beginning in 1928, it became possible to build a bridge to span it, and the completion of the Ocean Highway (present-day Delaware Route 1 and now known as Coastal Highway) between

Rehoboth Beach Rehoboth Beach ( ) is a city on the Atlantic Ocean along the Delaware Beaches in eastern Sussex County, Delaware. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the population was 1,327, reflecting a decline of 161 (11.2%) from the 1,488 counted in the 2000 ce ...

and Bethany Beach in 1933 prompted Delaware to build a span to connect the northern and southern segments of the highway. Since 1934, six bridges have spanned the inlet, all known informally as the

Indian River Inlet Bridge The Indian River Inlet Bridge (officially the Charles W. Cullen Bridge) is a cable-stayed bridge located in Sussex County, Delaware, in the United States. It carries four lanes of Delaware Route 1 (DE 1) over the Indian River Inlet between the ...

, although all but the first officially were named the Charles W. Cullen Bridge. The current Indian River Inlet Bridge opened in 2012.

References

External links

Univ. of Maryland: Indian River ecology
* ttp://www.deldot.gov/information/projects/indian_river_bridge/index.shtml Information about the Indian River Bridge replacement project {{coord, 38.59163, -75.15972, type:river_globe:earth_region:US-DE, display=title Rivers of Delaware Rivers of Sussex County, Delaware

See also

References

External links