Reedy Point Bridge

Reedy Point Bridge
Coordinates 39°33′30″N 75°34′57″W / 39.55833°N 75.58250°W / 39.55833; -75.58250
Carries 2 lanes of DE 9
Crosses Chesapeake & Delaware Canal
Locale Delaware City, Delaware
Maintained by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Characteristics
Design Cantilever truss bridge
Clearance above 135ft
History
Opened 1968

The Reedy Point Bridge carries Delaware Route 9 across the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal in Delaware City, Delaware, USA. A two-lane cantilever bridge similar in appearance to the Platt Bridge in Southwest Philadelphia (near Philadelphia International Airport), the Reedy Point Bridge was built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and opened in 1968, replacing a lift bridge that crossed the C&D Canal prior to the 1955 widening project. Unlike the nearby St. Georges Bridge, the Reedy Point Bridge spans over salt marshes at the southern approach (which subjects Delaware Route 9 to periodic tidal flooding), the canal itself, and both Fort Dupont and the Governor Bacon Health Center. An obsolete double-leaf bascule drawbridge, located just less than ⅛ of a mile north of the northern abutment, allows Delaware Route 9 to cross over the Delaware Ship Channel (itself an abandoned section of the original C&D Canal) and is technically part of the Reedy Point Bridge system. Both the high-level bridge and the drawbridge are maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Panorama of a cantilever bridge
Reedy Point Bridge as seen from Elsinboro Township, New Jersey

See also


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