Editing Tacony–Palmyra Bridge

{{Short description|Bridge connecting Pennsylvania and New Jersey}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox Bridge
|bridge_name= Tacony–Palmyra Bridge
|image=Tacony Palmyra Bridge.jpg
|image_size=300px
|caption=Bridge as seen from the New Jersey shoreline
|official_name= Tacony–Palmyra Bridge
|also_known_as= 
|carries= 3 lanes of {{jct|state=PA|PA|73|name1=PA side}} / {{jct|state=NJ|NJ|73|name1=NJ side}}, pedestrians and bicycles
|crosses= [[Delaware River]]
|locale= [[Philadelphia]] (Tacony), [[Pennsylvania]] and [[Palmyra, New Jersey]]
|maint= [[Burlington County Bridge Commission]]
|id= 3000001 (NJ), 677301999100150 (PA)
|design= [[Steel]] [[tied arch bridge]] with [[Bascule bridge|bascule]] opening
|mainspan={{cvt|558|ft}}
|length={{cvt|3659|ft}}
|width={{cvt|38|ft}}
|clearance={{cvt|14.5|ft}}
|below={{cvt|61|ft}} (arch), {{cvt|54|ft}} (bascule)
|traffic= 50,000 (1999)
|open= {{start date and age|August 14, 1929}}<ref name="081429opening">{{cite news |title=Ceaseless Traffic Passes Over Palmyra-Tacony Bridge Opened Yesterday by Two States |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54501625/tacony-palmyra-august-15-1929/ |access-date=July 1, 2020 |work=The Evening Courier |date=August 15, 1929 |location=[[Camden, New Jersey]] |page=3|via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}</ref>
|closed= 
|toll= $4.00 (northbound, cash), $3.00 ([[E-ZPass]])<ref name="tolls">{{cite web | url=https://www.bcbridges.org/BridgeInformation/TollRates.aspx | title=Toll Rates | publisher=Burlington Country Bridge Commission | access-date=September 15, 2015 | archive-date=May 5, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110505210515/https://www.bcbridges.org/BridgeInformation/TollRates.aspx | url-status=dead }}</ref>
|map_cue= 
|map_image= 
|map_text= 
|map_width= 
|coordinates = {{coord|40.01199|-75.04298|type:landmark_globe:earth_region:US-NJ|display=ti}}
}}
[[File:Driving across the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge, 2011.jpg|thumb|right|View from the roadway of the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge, across the upper [[Delaware River]] from [[Palmyra, New Jersey]] to [[Tacony, Philadelphia|Tacony]] section of [[Philadelphia]] with drawbridge signs]]
The '''Tacony–Palmyra Bridge''' is a combination steel [[tied-arch bridge|tied-arch]] and double-leaf [[bascule bridge]] across the [[Delaware River]] that connects [[New Jersey Route 73]] in [[Palmyra, New Jersey]] with [[Pennsylvania Route 73]] in the [[Tacony, Philadelphia|Tacony]] section of [[Philadelphia]]. The bridge, designed by [[Poland|Polish-born]] architect [[Ralph Modjeski]], has a total length of {{convert|3659|ft}} and spans {{convert|2324|ft}}. After one and a half years of construction, it opened on August&nbsp;14, 1929, replacing [[ferry]] service that had operated between Tacony and Palmyra since May&nbsp;6, 1922.<ref name="081429opening" /><ref>{{cite news |title=Tacony and Palmyra Ferry Line Opened |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54501401/tacony-palmyra-ferry-may-7-1922/ |access-date=July 1, 2020 |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer |date=May 7, 1922 |page=2|via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}</ref>

[[File:Tacony-Palmyra Bridge from Palmyra Nature Cove.jpg|thumb|right|The Tacony–Palmyra Bridge, seen from New Jersey]]

Owned and maintained by the [[Burlington County Bridge Commission]] of [[New Jersey]], the bridge has a $4 cash toll and $3 [[E-ZPass]] toll for northbound (Pennsylvania-bound) traffic.<ref name="tolls"/> Despite interruptions due to occasional openings for passing shipping traffic (the upper [[Delaware River]] is navigable as far north as [[Van Sciver Lake]] near [[Bristol, Pennsylvania]]), it serves as a lower-cost alternative to the more southerly, six-lane, high-span [[Betsy Ross Bridge]], which charges $6 for the westbound crossing.

Built with four lanes, the bridge was modified in 1997 to have three wider lanes{{spaced ndash}}two northbound towards Philadelphia and one southbound towards [[New Jersey]].<ref name=commission>{{cite web|title=Tacony-Palmyra Bridge|url=https://www.bcbridges.org/AboutUs/AboutOurBridges/TaconyPalmyraBridge.aspx|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130414130003/https://www.bcbridges.org/AboutUs/AboutOurBridges/TaconyPalmyraBridge.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 April 2013|website=Burlington County Bridge Commission|access-date=3 November 2016}}</ref> A walkway provides access for pedestrian and bicycle traffic.

[[File:Bufflehead-Tacony-MT.jpg|thumb|right|The bulk carrier, ''Bufflehead'', passes through the drawbridge span.]]

The bascule draw span is located immediately east of the main, arched span. On October 10, 2013, the bascule span jammed and became stuck in the open position when a roller under the maintenance walkway seized, closing the bridge for approximately eleven hours.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Tacony-Palmyra-Bridge-227192081.html | title=Busy Bridge Gets Stuck Open for Hours | publisher=[[NBCUniversal Media, LLC]] | work=[[WCAU]] | date=October 10, 2013 | access-date=July 31, 2014 | author=Stamm, Dan}}</ref>

In 2016, work began on rehabilitation and improved traffic controls systems, including barriers and traffic lights.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.state.nj.us/transportation/capital/stip1625/sec8/pdf/authorities.pdf | title=FY2016‐2025 Statewide Transportation Improvement Program | publisher=State of New Jersey | access-date=July 6, 2020}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[List of crossings of the Delaware River]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline}}
*[https://archive.today/20130414130003/http://www.bcbridges.org/AboutUs/AboutOurBridges/TaconyPalmyraBridge.aspx Tacony-Palmyra Bridge], [[Burlington County Bridge Commission]], [[New Jersey]]
* {{Structurae|id=20006142|title=Tacony-Palmyra Bridge}}
*Ehrhart, W.D., [http://www.vqronline.org/articles/2002/autumn/ehrhart-drawbridges-on-delaware/ "Drawbridges on the Delaware"], ''"[[Virginia Quarterly Review]]"'', Autumn 2002.

{{Crossings navbox
|structure       = Crossings
|place           = [[Delaware River]]
|bridge          = Tacony–Palmyra Bridge
|bridge signs    = [[Image:PA-73.svg|20px]] [[Image:Circle sign 73.svg|20px]]
|upstream        = [[Burlington–Bristol Bridge]]
|upstream signs  = [[Image:PA-413.svg|25px]] [[Image:Ellipse sign 413.svg|25px]]
|downstream      = [[Betsy Ross Bridge]]
|downstream signs= [[Image:Circle sign 90.svg|20px]]
}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tacony-Palmyra Bridge}}
[[Category:Bascule bridges in the United States]]
[[Category:Toll bridges in New Jersey]]
[[Category:Toll bridges in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Bridges completed in 1929]]
[[Category:Bridges over the Delaware River]]
[[Category:Bridges in Burlington County, New Jersey]]
[[Category:Bridges in Philadelphia]]
[[Category:Road bridges in New Jersey]]
[[Category:Road bridges in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Tied arch bridges in the United States]]
[[Category:Northeast Philadelphia]]
[[Category:Palmyra, New Jersey]]
[[Category:Steel bridges in the United States]]
[[Category:Interstate vehicle bridges in the United States]]
[[Category:1929 establishments in New Jersey]]
[[Category:1929 establishments in Pennsylvania]]