The Yardley–Wilburtha Bridge was a bridge spanning 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 ...

. A majority of the bridge was washed away by severe flooding in 1955 and was later demolished in 1961 after the completion of the nearby Scudder Falls Bridge.

History

Original bridge

The first structure located at the site of the now demolished Yardley–Wilburtha Bridge was built in 1835 by the Yardleyville–Delaware Bridge Company. It was originally a wooden toll bridge that connected the borough of Yardleyville (known today as Yardley) in

Bucks County, Pennsylvania Bucks County is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 646,538, making it the List of counties in Pennsylvania, four ...

, and the Greensburg (known today as Wilburtha) section of Ewing Township in

Mercer County, New Jersey Mercer County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Its county seat is Trenton, also the state capital, but also directly borders the Philadelphia metropolitan area and is included within the Federal Communications Commission's ...

. The bridge, which was built on stone foundations, measured long and had six spans. Little more than five years after having been built, the original bridge was damaged in a flood on January 8, 1841. Three of its spans were swept away, and it was replaced with another wooden bridge. For the next sixty years, the replacement bridge operated profitably and was eventually renamed the Yardley–Wilburtha Bridge when the two communities it connected were renamed. In October 1903, the Delaware River experienced its worst flood in history. The wooden Yardley–Wilburtha Bridge was devastated, and deemed well beyond repair. At this point, the Yardleyville-Delaware Bridge Company built a new

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 ...

Warren-

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 with six spans on the old bridge's foundation. In 1922, the bridge was purchased by the Pennsylvania-New Jersey Joint Bridge Commission, the predecessor to 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 ...

Destruction and temporary structure

Flooding from Hurricanes Connie and Diane in August 1955 devastated the

region. Flooding from the hurricanes ravaged many bridges along the river, wiping out three of four spans of the Portland–Columbia Covered Bridge, the

Point Pleasant–Byram Bridge The Point Pleasant–Byram Bridge was a bridge that spanned the Delaware River between Point Pleasant, Bucks County, Pennsylvania and the Byram section of Kingwood, Hunterdon County, New Jersey. History and notable features This bridge was a ...

, and the Yardley–Wilburtha Bridge. (A portion of the Northampton Street Bridge was also wiped out.) In the case of the Yardley–Wilburtha, the spans were taken out by a home that floated along the flooded river. On August 29, engineers inspected the remains of the structure. On September 7, two weeks after flooding wiped out the bridge's three spans, Dwight Palmer, the New Jersey State Flood Relief Coordinator announced that the

United States Army Corps of Engineers The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wo ...

would build new temporary spans at Yardley–Wilburtha, and at the Northampton Street Bridge. On September 17 they announced that construction of a new temporary bridge would begin no later than October 15 and be completed by November 1. The new structure would cost $95,000 (1955

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...

). On October 1, a contract to replace the structure was awarded to the Conduit Foundation Corporation of

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 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 ...

. Their bid was $99,000 and would begin work on October 3, with a completion date of November 20. During construction of the new bridge, a barge came loose from its moorings on October 17, floating downstream and forcing an emergency closure of the Calhoun Street Bridge in Trenton. On November 17, it was announced that the contractor would not meet the November 30 deadline and completion of a new structure would not be completed until December 22. With the

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

holiday approaching, it was decided that a man in a

Santa Claus Santa Claus (also known as Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle or Santa) is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring gifts during the late evening and overnight hours on Chris ...

outfit would help open the new span. On December 23, Robert Lane in a Santa Claus costume, along with members of the Delaware River Joint Bridge Commission and the United States Army Corps of Engineers delivered the final spike on the replacement structure. Remnants of the three destroyed spans washed up lodged in the river and lasted into June 1956. The process of removing the remnants from the water began in July.

Replacement and demolition

On March 1, 1956, the Toll Bridge Commission noted that while the Northampton Street Bridge was to reopened on March 10 that plans for replacement permanent structures for the three bridges washed away by the flooding. By June, this new bridge proposal at Yardley–Wilburtha came closer to reality with a new bridge proposed north of the temporary span. This new bridge would be higher off the ground with high overpasses so the river flooding would not wipe away the new structure. On each side of the bridge would be new

cloverleaf interchange A cloverleaf interchange is a two-level interchange (road), interchange in which all turns are handled by slip roads. To go left (in right-hand traffic; reverse directions in left-driving regions), vehicles first continue as one road passe ...

s to funnel traffic. This new bridge would cost $4 million (1956 USD). More details into the design of the new bridge at Yardley–Wilburtha. This new bridge would come from a ramp on PA 32 (River Road) in Yardley, about north of the temporary bridge. The bridge would include an interchange for River Road near Brown Street.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yardley-Wilburtha Bridge Road bridges in Pennsylvania Bridges over the Delaware River Bridges in Mercer County, New Jersey Bridges completed in 1835 Bridges completed in 1903 Bridges in Bucks County, Pennsylvania Road bridges in New Jersey Former toll bridges in New Jersey Former toll bridges in Pennsylvania Ewing Township, New Jersey Steel bridges in the United States Warren truss bridges in the United States Interstate vehicle bridges in the United States Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission