In April 1945 the Delaware State Highway Department was authorized to construct and operate a crossing of the Delaware River between New Castle, Delaware, and Pennsville, New Jersey. It took $44 million to build the graceful 440-foot-high span, which opened to traffic on August 15, 1951.
By 1955, nearly 8 million vehicles were crossing the bridge each year—almost double the original projection. As a result, talks about building a second bridge were soon underway, and a twin span was dedicated in 1968. Although the spans look identical, there are differences. Today, more than 80,000 vehicles cross the twin spans on their combined total of 8 lanes daily. |
| | First Span-NJ bound | Second Span-DE bound
| | Main Spans,
Suspension Bridge | 2,150 feet | 2,150 feet | | Side Spans,
Suspension Bridge | two at 750 feet | two at 750 feet | | Total length,
Suspension Bridge | 3,650 feet | 3,650 feet | | | Movement | | Lateral: | Tops of Towers
Center of Main Span | 0.65 feet
8.90 feet | 0.53 feet
8.00 feet | | Vertical: | Center of Main Span | 11.00 feet | 10.58 feet | |
Longitudinal:
|
Top of Towers |
2.36 feet |
| | | |
More Facts about The Delaware Memorial Bridge
- The first span provided a Delaware River crossing for 17 years.
- 3 days after the second span was opened in 1968, the first span closed for more than a year for a major overhaul.
- Both spans became available to traffic on December 29, 1969.
- 500,000,000 vehicles crossed the twin span in its first 31 years.
- 300,000,000 vehicles crossed the twin span in the next 8 years. (1996).
- The 1 billion vehicle mark was reached in the year 2000.
- The largest single day of bridge traffic saw 72,249 private and commercial vehicles cross the bridge one-way on November 29, 1998.
- The largest single weekend for traffic totals saw 194,199 vehicles cross the bridge one-way—July 24–26, 1998.