The Centre Bridge–Stockton Bridge is a free bridge over the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and is the longest free-flowing (undammed) river in the Eastern United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for a ...

owned and operated by the

Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission The Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission (DRJTBC) is a bistate, public agency that maintains and operates river crossings connecting the U.S. states of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The agency's jurisdiction stretches roughly along the D ...

. The bridge connects CR 523 and NJ 29 in Stockton, in

Hunterdon County Hunterdon County is a County (United States), county located in the western section of the U.S. state of New Jersey. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the county was the state's List of counties in New Jersey, 4th-least populous ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

to PA 263 in Centre Bridge, Solebury Township,

Bucks County Bucks County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 646,538, making it the fourth-most populous county in Pennsylvania. Its county seat is Doylestown. The county is named after the English ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, United States.

History

For many years, the route was called

Old York Road Old York Road, originally York Road, with reference to New York, is a roadway that was built during the 18th century to connect Philadelphia with New York City. The road was built along the Raritan tribe, Raritan tribe's Naraticong Trail, als ...

, as it was the principal route from

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Originally, the Centre Bridge–Stockton Bridge was a covered toll bridge of wood construction was located at the former site of Reading's Ferry. First built in 1814 as a

covered bridge A covered bridge is a timber-truss bridge with a roof, decking, and siding, which in most covered bridges create an almost complete enclosure. The purpose of the covering is to protect the wooden structural members from the weather. Uncovered woo ...

with six spans and a total length of 821 feet built under contract by Capt. Pelig Kingsley and Benjamin Lord. The construction was faulty and the contractors were penalized $1,200. One of the piers soon gave way and had to be rebuilt.
In 1830, the entire bridge was reconstructed by a contractor Amos Campbell, the father of

Henry Roe Campbell Henry Roe Campbell (September 9, 1807 – February 6, 1879) was an American surveying, surveyor and civil engineer. Campbell contributed to American railroading and bridge-building in the first half of the 19th century. Campbell patented hi ...

. At that time the Raritan feeder on the New Jersey side, and the Delaware Division canal on the Pennsylvania side had not been dug. At first, the canal companies built and maintained the bridges over their respective ditches.
The flood of January 8, 1841, carried away three spans, two piers and the stone toll-house all on the New Jersey side. It was only one of many bridges between Easton,

and Trenton,

, that was destroyed in the flood. However, the Centre Bridge–Stockton Bridge was rebuilt well enough to be one of the few bridges not washed away by the flood of October 10, 1903. In 1923, the bridge was twice damaged by fire and then on July 22, 1923, lightning struck the bridge and the resulting fire totally destroyed the structure. For two years after the disaster, the Centre Bridge–Stockton Bridge saw no repairs. Eventually, the

gained control of the remnants of the bridge, and began rebuilding upon the same piers and abutments on which the first bridge had stood. Having been built higher than before, it escaped damage in the flood of 1955, which damaged many other bridges along the Delaware River. The current

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

truss A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as Beam (structure), beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure. In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so ...

bridge was completed in 1926 and opened to traffic in 1927.

Rehabilitation project

In September 2006, the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission awarded Road-Con an $8.4 million contract for the rehabilitation of the Centre Bridge–Stockton Bridge. For five months, the bridge was closed from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, remaining fully open only on weekends. Work done on the bridge included blast cleaning and painting the bridge truss, rehabilitating the roadway deck and sidewalk, making structural repairs, and improving road signs, railings and lighting. As of the middle of May, the total cost of the project was estimated to be $9.4 million.

The bridge in art and music

The fire of 1923 was depicted in a famous painting by

Edward Willis Redfield Edward Willis Redfield (December 18, 1869 – October 19, 1965) was an American Impressionist landscape painter and member of the art colony at New Hope, Pennsylvania. He is best known today for his impressionist scenes of the New Hope area ...

who in 1898 had purchased and lived in a farm just north of the bridge. New Jersey composer Frances White has written two compositions about the bridge: ''Centre Bridge'' (1999) and ''Centre Bridge (dark river)''(2001). Both were inspired by the sounds of traffic on the metal grating, and both feature recordings of the bridge and river.

Gallery

File:Centre Bridge information sign, Stockton, NJ.jpg, Centre Bridge information sign in Stockton File:Centre Bridge-Stockton Bridge, Stockton, NJ - looking southwest.jpg, Bridge approach from Stockton File:Centre Bridge-Stockton Bridge 20071105-jag9889.jpg, View from the Delaware River File:Edward Willis Redfield - The Burning of Center Bridge (1923).jpg, Painting of burning bridge by

References

External links