Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad Bridge No. 1 was a swing steel through truss that spanned the

Schuylkill River The Schuylkill River ( , ) is a river running northwest to southeast in eastern Pennsylvania. The river was improved by navigations into the Schuylkill Canal, and several of its tributaries drain major parts of Pennsylvania's Coal Region. It f ...

between

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 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 ...

Kingsessing Kingsessing is a neighborhood in the Southwest section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. On the west side of the Schuylkill River, it is next to the neighborhoods of Cedar Park, Southwest Schuylkill, and Mount Moriah, as well as the ...

and Grays Ferry neighborhoods. Part of a long succession of ferry and bridge crossings at this location, the bridge was built in 1901 for 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 ...

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 Pitt ...

. Over the decades, ownership of the bridge passed to PW&B successor railroads: the Philadelphia, Baltimore & Washington Railroad, then to

Penn Central The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976. Penn Central combined three traditional corporate rivals (the Pennsylvania, New York Central and the ...

, then to Conrail, which formally placed it out of operation in 1976. In 2017, Conrail conveyed the bridge to the City of Philadelphia, part of a plan to extend the multiuse

Schuylkill River Trail The Schuylkill River Trail ( , ) is a multi-use trail along the banks of the Schuylkill River in southeastern Pennsylvania. Partially complete as of 2018, the trail is ultimately planned to run about from the river's headwaters in Schuylkill Co ...

. The bridge's truss and superstructure were demolished in August 2018, with the pilings spared to serve as a foundation for a planned bike-pedestrian bridge.

Background (to 1901)

The bridge's location has been a major crossing point since the establishment of a ferry here as early as 1673 and certainly by 1696. 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 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

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. Called the

Newkirk Viaduct Gray's Ferry Bridge (more recently, Grays Ferry Bridge) has been the formal or informal name of several floating bridges and four permanent ones that have carried highway and rail traffic over the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia. The bridge today ...

, 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.

Design and construction (1901-1902)

The bridge has a swing span pivoting on a cylindrical stone pier at mid-stream. A wooden pile fender protects the pivot pier and the opened swing span from collisions with boat traffic on the river. The

built the swing span on the fender in its open position, avoiding interference with river traffic. The swing span sits between two approach spans. "The mechanism, located on the swing span and driven by steam, is typical of movable bridge construction at the turn of the twentieth century," wrote historian Justin Spivey. It was completed and opened in 1902.

Operation and abandonment (1902-1976)

Maximum speed over the bridge was . In 1976, Conrail abandoned the bridge shortly after it acquired the Pennsylvania Railroad properties, and left it permanently open.

Post-abandonment (1977-present)

An unknown party purchased the bridge in 1987. In 2012, Philadelphia Mayor

Michael Nutter Michael Anthony Nutter (born June 29, 1957) is an American politician who served as the 98th Mayor of Philadelphia. Elected on November 6, 2007, he was reelected to a second term on November 8, 2011. He is a previous member of the Philadelphia ...

proposed to return the bridge to service as a part of the

, a

bike trail A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or small road usually passing through a natural area. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, a path or footpath is the preferred term for a pedestrian or hiking trail. The ...

. Under the proposal, the bridge would be raised some so that boats — in particular, a towboat used to bring oil barges to the Trigen power plant upstream — could pass without swinging it open. In May 2016, councilmember

Kenyatta Johnson Kenyatta Johnson is a Democratic member of the Philadelphia City Council. He formerly served in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from the 186th District. He represents the 2nd District, which covers parts of Center City, South and Sout ...

introduced a bill in Philadelphia City Council to allow the city to acquire the bridge and some surrounding land from Conrail. In November 2017, Conrail transferred ownership of the bridge to the City of Philadelphia, which planned a $13 million project to replace the truss with a bike-trail structure. On August 23, 2018, the bridge's truss and superstructure were demolished. The pilings remain as a foundation for the planned bike-pedestrian bridge.

References

External links

*
"The River As It Was, The River As It Is, The River As It Should Be"
By John Frederick Lewis of the City Parks Association, Philadelphia, 1924.
1924 photo
labeled "The Present State of the East Bank of the Schuylkill at Gray's Ferry Where Our Citizens Met Washington on His Way to His Inauguration."
1924 photo
labeled "Looking down the River, East Bank, Below Gray's Ferry Where Our Citizens Assembled to Greet Washington."
1969 PRR traffic schematic for PW&B No. 1 BridgeTimelapse video
of the 2018 removal of the bridge superstructure. {{Crossings navbox , structure = Crossings , place =

, bridge = Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad Bridge No. 1 , upstream =

Grays Ferry Bridge Gray's Ferry Bridge (more recently, Grays Ferry Bridge) has been the formal or informal name of several floating bridges and four permanent ones that have carried highway and rail traffic over the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia. The bridge today ...