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Mark A. Earhart | all galleries >> My PAD...Pictures Of This & That & Whatever >> december2011_pad > Benjamin Franklin Bridge
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10-NOV-2011

Benjamin Franklin Bridge

The Benjamin Franklin Bridge (also known as the Ben Franklin Bridge), originally named the Delaware River Bridge, is a suspension bridge across the Delaware River connecting Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Camden, New Jersey. Named for American founding father Benjamin Franklin, the bridge is owned and operated by the Delaware River Port Authority.

The chief engineer was Polish-born Ralph Modjeski, its design engineer was Leon Moisseiff, and the supervising architect was Paul Philippe Cret. At its completion on July 1, 1926, its 1,750 foot (533 meter) span made it the world's longest suspension bridge span, a distinction it would hold until the opening of the Ambassador Bridge in 1929.

The bridge currently carries highways I-676 and US 30. The bridge also carries the Port Authority Transit Corporation's Lindenwold High-Speed Line (PATCO Speedline) via connecting tunnels on both sides of the bridge.

Pedestrian walkways run along both sides of the bridge, elevated over and separated from the vehicular lanes; of these, only one is open at a time. Walkway hours are 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

The seven vehicular lanes are divided by a concrete "zipper" barrier, which can be mechanically moved to configure the lanes for traffic volume or construction. Red and green signals mounted on overhead gantries indicate which lanes are open or closed to traffic in each direction. The lights indicate closures for construction, accidents or breakdown as well as traffic separation. Generally, during the morning rush hour, there are four lanes open westbound and three eastbound, with the situation reversed during the evening rush hour. Before the zipper barrier was installed, one lane of the bridge was kept closed at peak times to reduce the risk of head-on collisions as there was no physical barrier separating east and westbound traffic.

Along with the Betsy Ross, Walt Whitman, and Tacony-Palmyra Bridges, the Benjamin Franklin is one of four primary vehicular bridges between Philadelphia and southern New Jersey. The Commodore Barry Bridge in Delaware County, Pennsylvania and the Burlington-Bristol Bridge in Bucks County, Pennsylvania connect suburban Philadelphia with southern New Jersey.






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