Betsy Ross Bridge
The Betsy Ross Bridge is a continuous steel truss bridge spanning the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Pennsauken, New Jersey. It was built from 1969 to 1974, and opened in April 1976, during the American Bicentennial Year. It was originally planned to be named as the "Delair Bridge", after a paralleling vertical lift bridge owned by Pennsylvania Railroad, which is now used by Conrail Shared Assets Operations and New Jersey Transit's Atlantic City Line, but was instead later named for Betsy Ross, a Philadelphia seamstress and creator of the first American flag in 1776. It was the first automotive bridge named for a woman in the United States, and the second U.S. bridge overall named for a woman after Iowa's Boone High Bridge was renamed the Kate Shelley High Bridge in 1912.
Betsy Ross Bridge | |
|---|---|
Betsy Ross Bridge crossing the Delaware River in February 2023 | |
| Coordinates | 39.98595°N 75.06676°W |
| Carries | 6 lanes of Route 90 |
| Crosses | Delaware River |
| Locale | Philadelphia (Bridesburg), Pennsylvania and Pennsauken Township, New Jersey |
| Official name | Betsy Ross Bridge |
| Maintained by | Delaware River Port Authority of Pennsylvania and New Jersey |
| ID number | 4500011 |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Steel continuous truss bridge |
| Total length | 8,485 feet (2,586 meters) |
| Width | 105 feet 4 inches (32.11 meters) |
| Longest span | 729 feet (222 meters) |
| Clearance above | 37.66 feet (11.48 meters) |
| Clearance below | 135 feet (41 meters) |
| History | |
| Construction cost | $103 million |
| Opened | April 30, 1976 |
| Statistics | |
| Daily traffic | 39,980 (2000) |
| Toll | $5.00 (westbound) (E-ZPass) |
| Location | |
Betsy Ross Bridge is located adjacent to the mouth of Frankford Creek. During construction, thousands of headstones from historic Monument Cemetery were used as riprap on the embankments built for the bridge, some of which can be seen along the edge of the Delaware River near the bridge during low tide.