Centre Bridge–Stockton Bridge

Centre Bridge–Stockton Bridge
Coordinates
Carries	2 lanes of PA 263
Crosses	Delaware River
Locale	Stockton, New Jersey and Solebury Township, Pennsylvania
Official name	Centre Bridge-Stockton Toll Supported Bridge
Maintained by	Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission
Characteristics
Design	Truss bridge
Total length	825 feet (251 m)
Width	20 feet (6 m)
Longest span	152 feet (46 m)
Load limit	5 tons
Clearance above	12 feet (4 m)
History
Opened	1927
Statistics
Daily traffic	4,800
Toll	None

The Centre Bridge–Stockton Bridge is a free bridge over the Delaware River owned and operated by the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission. The bridge connects CR 523 and NJ 29 in Stockton, in Hunterdon County, New Jersey to PA 263 in Centre Bridge, Solebury Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States.

History

Originally, the Centre Bridge–Stockton Bridge was a covered toll bridge. Built in 1814, it was located at the former site of Reading's Ferry. For many years, the route was called Old York Road, as it was the principal route from Philadelphia to New York City.

In 1829, the bridge was reconstructed. Most of the structure, however, was washed away in the flood of 1841. It was only one of many bridges between Easton, Pennsylvania and Trenton, New Jersey that was destroyed in the flood. The Centre Bridge–Stockton Bridge was rebuilt well enough to be one of the few bridges not washed away by the flood of 1903.

On July 22, 1923, lightning struck the bridge and the resulting fire destroyed the structure.

For two years after the disaster, the Centre Bridge–Stockton Bridge saw no repairs. Eventually, the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission gained control of the remnants of the bridge, and began rebuilding upon the same piers and abutments on which the first bridge had stood. Having been built higher than before, it escaped damage in the flood of 1955, which damaged many other bridges along the Delaware River. The current steel truss bridge was completed in 1926 and opened to traffic in 1927.

Rehabilitation project

In September 2006, the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission awarded Road-Con an $8.4 million contract for the rehabilitation of the Centre Bridge–Stockton Bridge. For five months, the bridge was closed from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, remaining fully open only on weekends. Work done on the bridge included blast cleaning and painting the bridge truss, rehabilitating the roadway deck and sidewalk, making structural repairs, and improving road signs, railings and lighting. As of the middle of May, the total cost of the project was estimated to be $9.4 million.

The bridge in art and music

The fire of 1923 was depicted in a famous painting by Edward Willis Redfield who in 1898 had purchased and lived in a farm just north of the bridge.

New Jersey composer Frances White has written two compositions about the bridge: Centre Bridge (1999) and Centre Bridge (dark river)(2001). Both were inspired by the sounds of traffic on the metal grating, and both feature recordings of the bridge and river.

See also

• List of crossings of the Delaware River

• Centre Bridge Stockton Bridge from south Jersey side.jpg

  The bridge seen from the south New Jersey shoreline

• Centre Bridge-Stockton Bridge-Pennsylvania approach.jpg

  The Pennsylvania approach to the Centre Bridge–Stockton Bridge

• Centre Bridge-Stockton Bridge-New Jersey approach.jpg

  The bridge's New Jersey approach

• Centre Bridge-Stockton Bridge-view from Pennsylvania.jpg

  The bridge during the 2006–2007 rehabilitation project

• Centre Bridge-Stockton Bridge-view from walkway.jpg

  A view of the bridge from the walkway