Benjamin Franklin Bridge - Big Blue Entrance to Philadelphia, PA

July 22, 2015

Ben Franklin Bridge East Tower - JD Jessop Photo

The Benjamin Franklin Bridge links Camden, New Jersey to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by crossing over the Delaware River. I’ve always admired this beast when I have visited Philadelphia and told myself that someday I would walk across the bridge. I got my chance one Sunday afternoon in September of 2014. It was a bright and sunny late afternoon and I decided that it would be less crowed for parking on the Camden side of the bridge so I drove across the bridge and parked near the police headquarters at Rutgers University, Camden Campus. Not only was there space available, but if you know anything about Camden, parking by the Police station is probably the best option. Anyway, the streets were pretty much deserted so I locked my vehicle and walked up the stairs to the bridge deck. This big blue monster of a bridge was built in 1926 and has been heavily used ever since. The following stats

Walking west along the Ben Franklin Bridge - JD Jessop Photo

were obtained from the Delaware River Port Authority (DRPA) who owns & operates the bridge. It is 9,573 feet long…….almost two miles long! Its towers top out at 382 feet tall and the bridge deck is 135 feet above the water. The bridge carries 7 lanes of traffic on Interstate 676 / US HWY 30 across the river and these highways are traveled by over 100,000 vehicles daily. The bridge also has railroad tracks and the PATCO transit trains carry 40,000 riders across the river daily as well. As you walk across this marvel of engineering, look out across the Delaware River as something is always going on. Tug boats, tour boats, pleasure craft, container ships, dredges, barges etc. move up and down this busy waterway. On the New Jersey side of the river to the south of the bridge you will notice the USS New Jersey BB62 battleship and it is quite the sight to see that giant old dreadnought moored along the bank of the river. Almost directly across from the USS New Jersey is the World War I era cruiser USS Olympia. This ship, moored at Penn Landing on the west bank of the river is a National treasure. This historic ship was part of Teddy Roosevelt’s “Great White Fleet” and it served as Roosevelt’s flag ship when he sailed with the fleet. The Ben Franklin Bridge is painted sky blue and at night it is beautifully lit in different colors depending upon what the Delaware River Port Authority is in the mood for. I admired the thick braided wire cables that hung the bridge deck – suspended it from the towers and the decorative lamps along the walkway. I ran my hands over some of the rivets in the steel peers and thought about the workmen who secured these rivets in place back in the 1920’s and

West Tower - Ben Franklin Bridge - JD Jessop Photo

of the 15 men who died during its construction. I then looked straight up at the top of the tower from its base and was sort of mesmerized for a moment, feeling very small. The bridge is popular for running, walking and biking. Sings warn you on approach however that you will be crossing the bridge “At your own Risk” and the signs caution you to be cognizant of high winds and maintenance vehicles. I would add position of the sun in the sky to that list as you don’t wanna be walking the streets of Camden after dark in my humble opinion. Traveling east to Jersey across the bridge is free but you will pay a $5.00 toll to get back across the bridge heading west into Philadelphia. The skyline of Philadelphia is very impressive when viewed from the bridge – especially the 975 foot Comcast Center which seems to pierce the sky. If you have time and are not sure what else you want to do in Philadelphia after you’ve seen Independence Mall, take a walk across the Ben Franklin Bridge. Bridge walkway hours are basically from 6am – 8pm. For current bridge walkway conditions you can call 856-968-2255 or visit the DRPA website at http://www.drpa.org/bridges/bridges_bf.html