Delaware Memorial Bridge
The Delaware Memorial Bridge is a dual-span suspension bridge crossing the Delaware River. The toll bridges carry Interstate 295 and U.S. Route 40 and is also the link between Delaware and New Jersey. The bridge was designed by the firm of Howard, Needles, Tammen & Bergendoff with consulting help from engineer Othmar Ammann, whose other designs include the George Washington Bridge and the Verrazzano–Narrows Bridge.
The bridges provide a regional connection for long-distance travelers. While not a part of Interstate 95, they connect two parts of the highway: the Delaware Turnpike on the south side with the New Jersey Turnpike on the north. They also connect Interstate 495, U.S. [Route 13 in Delaware|U.S. Route 13], and Route 9 in unincorporated New Castle County, Delaware, near New Castle, with U.S. Route 130 in Pennsville Township, New Jersey. The Delaware Memorial and Benjamin Franklin Bridge are the only crossings of the Delaware River with both U.S. Highway and Interstate Highway designations.
The bridges are dedicated to those from both New Jersey and Delaware who died in World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Persian Gulf War. On the Delaware side of the bridge is a War Memorial, visible from the northbound-side lanes. The toll facility is operated by the Delaware River and Bay Authority.
The Delaware Memorial Bridge is the southernmost and the largest fixed vehicular crossing of the Delaware River. It is also the only fixed vehicular crossing between Delaware and New Jersey. However, at Fort Mott, New Jersey, there is a small amount of land on the New Jersey side of the river that is part of the State of Delaware, and thus there are pedestrian crossings in between those states, but not spanning the river. The Cape May–Lewes Ferry provides an alternate route between travelers from New Jersey and the Northeastern states to southern Delaware.
File:Delaware Memorial Bridge & Delaware River, September 14th 2025.png|thumb|An aerial view of the Delaware Memorial Bridge, Delaware River, and I-295
On clear days, the skyline of Philadelphia is visible in the distance on the left going to New Jersey and on the right leaving New Jersey. Wilmington, Delaware, only a few miles away from the bridge, is also visible. Other landmarks that can be seen from the bridge includes the cooling tower for PSEG's Hope Creek Nuclear Generating Station near Salem, New Jersey, the Delaware City Refinery in Delaware City, Delaware, the Reedy Point Bridge, also in Delaware City, both the St. Georges Bridge and the Senator William V. Roth Jr. Bridge in St. Georges, Delaware, and the Commodore Barry Bridge in Chester, Pennsylvania.
, more than 100,000 vehicles cross the twin spans on their combined total of eight lanes daily. The largest single day of traffic had 79,488 private and commercial vehicles cross the bridge one-way on November 29, 2009. The largest single weekend for traffic totals had 211,685 vehicles cross the bridge one-way, August 16–18, 2019.
History
The first span
Following the opening of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge in Philadelphia, residents of Delaware and New Jersey began to advocate a crossing of the river in the area of Wilmington, Delaware. As commercial pressures mounted, a ferry service began, as an interim measure, to run in 1926, near the bridge's current location. Advocates of a bridge crossing between Delaware and New Jersey faced strong opposition from the Port of Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Department of Wharves, Docks, and Ferries, and the Delaware [River Port Authority|Delaware River Joint Commission], which claimed that the bridge would be hinder navigation. The U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard were also concerned that the bridge would be vulnerable to an enemy attack. If the bridge were to collapse into the river, it could render the Philadelphia Navy Yard unusable.As traffic by cars and truck increased rapidly, the benefits of a bridge in this area became evident, and its construction was authorized by the highway departments of Delaware and New Jersey in 1945. Originally, a two-lane highway tunnel was considered, but the costs for a four-lane bridge was found to be equivalent in price, therefore being the reason a four-lane bridge was chosen. Congress approved the bridge project on July 13, 1946, and its construction began on February 1, 1949.
The project cost $44 million, and it took two years to complete the high span with towers reaching above water level. The first span opened to traffic on August 16, 1951, and at the time was the sixth-longest main suspension span in the world. The Governor of Delaware, Elbert N. Carvel, and the Governor of New Jersey, Alfred E. Driscoll, dedicated the bridge to each state's war dead from World War II.
The bridge quickly proved a popular travel route when the New Jersey Turnpike connection was completed at its north end. By 1955, nearly eight million vehicles were crossing the bridge each year, nearly twice the original projection. By 1960, the bridge was carrying more than 15 million cars and trucks per year, and this increased even more when the bridge was linked to the new Delaware Turnpike, Interstate 95, in November 1963.
The second span
Construction of the second span began in mid-1964, north of the original span. It was completed at a cost of $77 million and opened on September 12, 1968, dedicated to those soldiers from Delaware and New Jersey killed in the Korean War and Vietnam War. The original span was closed down for fifteen months for refurbishment: its suspenders were replaced and its deck and median barrier were removed and replaced with a single deck to allow four undivided lanes of traffic. Finally, on December 29, 1969, all eight lanes of the Delaware Memorial Bridge Twin Span opened to traffic, making it the world's second-longest twin suspension bridge.While they are similar in basic appearance, major differences exist between the original and second spans. The original was constructed of riveted steel plates, and has an open-grate shoulder access walk. The second span was constructed mostly of welded steel plates like with most contemporary steel bridges, and also has concrete access walks.
The original suspension span carries northbound traffic for Interstate 295, the newer southbound. Crossover lanes on each side of the bridge can allow two-way traffic on one span if the other must be closed for an extensive period of time.
1969–present
On July 9, 1969, the oil tanker Regent Liverpool struck the fender system protecting the tower piers. The bridge itself was spared damage, but the fender suffered about $1.0 million in damage.The Delaware River and Bay Authority began a $13 million project in 2003 to resurface the bridge, refurbish the expansion joints, upgrade the electrical system, and replace the elevators in the four towers. This work was completed in 2008.
In 2022 the DRBA began a project to apply ultra-high performance concrete to the driving surface of the eastbound span.
The Delaware Memorial Bridge Protection System began in July 2023. The $93 million ship collision protection system project consists of the installation of eight stone-filled dolphins, each measuring in diameter. Four cells are being installed at the piers supporting both eastern and western towers and will be located a minimum of from the edge of the Delaware River's channel. Construction is expected to be completed in September 2025.
Toll
Tolls for crossing are handled in a one-direction only manner for traffic travelling from New Jersey to Delaware and were initially 75 cents when the bridge opened in 1951., the toll is $6.00 for passenger vehicles using cash and $5.00 using an E-ZPass. Frequent Traveler discounts are available to New Jersey E-ZPass account holders, for passenger cars only, via pre-purchase of passages. In 2003, about $270,000 in tolls were collected daily.Prior to the introduction of E-ZPass, both tokens and frequent traveler tickets were used, with special, discounted ticket books for local residents. They were phased out upon the introduction of the new system, and the tokens are no longer valid.