| Gray's Ferry Bridge | |
|---|---|
| Other name(s) | Newkirk Viaduct |
| Crosses | Schuylkill River |
| Locale | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Construction end | 1838 |
| Opened | 1838 |
| Closed | 1901–1902[1] |
The modern Gray's Ferry Bridge is a four-lane divided highway bridge, built in 1976, which carries Grays Ferry Avenue across the Schuylkill River and AMTRAK tracks in the Grays Ferry neighborhood in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Contents |
Before there was a bridge, Gray's Ferry connected Philadelphia to the Darby Road (now Woodland Avenue at 47th Street), which was part of the King's Highway, the main land route to Delaware, Baltimore, and the southern colonies.[2]
According to some historians, the first bridge across the Schuylkill River was a pontoon bridge built about 1780.[1] The Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad had a floating bridge, which may have coexisted with the 1780 bridge, and carried just cars, not locomotives, across the river. This bridge was followed by a covered highway and railroad bridge in 1838.[1]
The Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad built[3] the Gray's Ferry Bridge of 1838 across the Schuylkill River in the Grays Ferry neighborhood in Philadelphia.
The bridge was known at the time as the Newkirk Viaduct, and an obelisk was erected as the Newkirk Monument in honor of Matthew Newkirk (1794–1868), a Philadelphia business and civic leader who was president of the merged company that erected the bridge, the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad.[4]
This 1838 bridge was cited in the 1865 US Supreme Court case Gilman v. Philadelphia, concerning the power of Congress to regulate interstate commerce, including navigable streams in a particular state.[5]
In 1901, the City of Philadelphia constructed a new highway bridge, and released the railroad from the obligation to maintain the highway portion of its bridge.[1]
The railroad promptly began construction of a swing bridge in 1901, which was completed in October, 1902. This bridge has a 226'-7" long 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 American Bridge Company used the wooden pile fender to construct the swing span in the open position, avoiding interference with river traffic.[1]
Conrail abandoned the bridge shortly after it acquired the Pennsylvania Railroad properties in 1976, and left it permanently open. An unknown party purchased the bridge in 1987,[1] but the bridge and the fender pilings continue in a deteriorating state in 2010.