The Lumberville–Raven Rock Bridge, also known as the Lumberville Foot Bridge, is a free pedestrian 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 ...

. The bridge connects

Bull's Island Recreation Area The Bulls Island Recreation Area is on Bulls Island at Raven Rock along the Delaware River approximately north of Stockton, within Delaware Township in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, United States. The park is a part of the Delaware and Ra ...

near Raven Rock, Delaware Township 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 Lumberville, Solebury Township in

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. The bridge, which is one of the two exclusively pedestrian bridges over the Delaware River, is 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 ...

History

The Pennsylvania and New Jersey legislatures approved the construction of a bridge at Lumberville in 1835-1836, however construction was not begun until 1853. This delay spared the bridge the possible ravages of a major flood in 1841. The bridge, with four spans crossing the river and another crossing the

Delaware Canal The Delaware Division of the Pennsylvania Canal, more commonly called the Delaware Canal, runs for parallel to the right bank of the Delaware River from the entry locks near the mouth of the Lehigh River and terminal end of the Lehigh Canal at ...

, was a wooden covered type, engineered by Solon Chapin of

Easton, Pennsylvania Easton is a city in and the county seat of Northampton County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city's population was 28,127 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Easton is located at the confluence of the Lehigh River and the Delawa ...

, and a partner, Anthony Fry. The bridge was built by the Lumberville Delaware River Bridge Company and was completed in 1856. The original

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 ...

incurred major damage in the flood of 1903 and one of the three river spans was washed away. Repairs were made and the single missing span was replaced in 1904 by a

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 ...

section. The

toll bridge A toll bridge is a bridge where a monetary charge (or '' toll'') is required to pass over. Generally the private or public owner, builder and maintainer of the bridge uses the toll to recoup their investment, in much the same way as a toll road ...

was sold to the DRJTBC in 1932. The replacement span served until February 1944 when the remaining

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

spans were declared unsafe and condemned. The Joint Toll Bridge Commission determined at that time that there was no longer a need for a vehicular bridge at the site. In 1947, the Trenton firm of John A Roebling's Sons, Co. was hired to replace the structure with a

pedestrian bridge A footbridge (also a pedestrian bridge, pedestrian overpass, or pedestrian overcrossing) is a bridge designed solely for pedestrians.''Oxford English Dictionary'' While the primary meaning for a bridge is a structure which links "two points at a ...

. The original 1855

piers Piers may refer to: * Pier, a raised structure over a body of water * Pier (architecture), an architectural support * Piers (name), a given name and surname (including lists of people with the name) * Piers baronets, two titles, in the baronetages ...

and

abutment An abutment is the substructure at the ends of a bridge span or dam supporting its superstructure. Single-span bridges have abutments at each end that provide vertical and lateral support for the span, as well as acting as retaining walls ...

s were deemed sound. At a total cost of $75,000, the bridge was rebuilt as a five-span

suspension bridge A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck (bridge), deck is hung below suspension wire rope, cables on vertical suspenders. The first modern examples of this type of bridge were built in the early 1800s. Simple suspension bridg ...

. A major flood in 1955 destroyed several Delaware River bridges but the Lumberville-Raven Rock bridge survived and remains in use today. A major rehabilitation contract was completed in 1993. The project included a new deck, new lighting and repainting. The bridge is adjacent to the Delaware Canal State Park on Quarry Road at Daniel Bray Highway ( New Jersey Route 29) in

Stockton, New Jersey Stockton is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, Hunterdon County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The borough sits on the Delaware River at the western end of Amwell Valley. As of the 2020 United States census, the ...

.Google.com/maps "Delaware Canal State Park, Stockton, New Jersey" Retrieved April 11, 2024.
/ref> The park has a visitors center, rest rooms and a parking lot.

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20070210223415/http://www.njskylands.com/hsdelbridges.htm, Accessed November 2, 2009 * https://web.archive.org/web/20120223223702/http://www.pennridge.org/works/lumberville.html, Accessed (web archive) January 2. 2022 {{DEFAULTSORT:Lumberville - Raven Rock Bridge Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission Bridges over the Delaware River Bridges in Hunterdon County, New Jersey Suspension bridges in New Jersey Suspension bridges in Pennsylvania Bridges completed in 1904 Bridges in Bucks County, Pennsylvania Road bridges in New Jersey Road bridges in Pennsylvania Pedestrian bridges in New Jersey Pedestrian bridges in Pennsylvania Covered bridges in Pennsylvania Covered bridges in Bucks County, Pennsylvania Covered bridges in New Jersey Covered bridges in Hunterdon County, New Jersey Former road bridges in the United States Former toll bridges in New Jersey Former toll bridges in Pennsylvania Steel bridges in the United States Wooden bridges in Pennsylvania

History

See also

References

External links