# Commodore Barry Bridge

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> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_Barry_Bridge
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{{Short description|Bridge in New Jersey and Pennsylvania}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2024}}
{{Infobox bridge
| bridge_name = Commodore John Barry Bridge
| image = Commodore-Barry-Bridge-Drone.jpg
| image_size = 300px
| caption = Commodore Barry Bridge crossing the [Delaware River](/source/Delaware_River) from [Chester, Pennsylvania](/source/Chester%2C_Pennsylvania) to [Logan Township, New Jersey](/source/Logan_Township%2C_New_Jersey) (background)
| official_name = 
| carries = 5 lanes of {{jct|country=USA|US|322|name1=full length}}
| crosses = [Delaware River](/source/Delaware_River)
| locale = [Chester, Pennsylvania](/source/Chester%2C_Pennsylvania) to [Bridgeport, New Jersey](/source/Bridgeport%2C_New_Jersey)
| maint = [Delaware River Port Authority of Pennsylvania and New Jersey](/source/Delaware_River_Port_Authority)
| id = 
| design = [Steel](/source/Steel) [cantilever bridge](/source/cantilever_bridge)
| mainspan = {{convert|1,644|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}}
| length = {{convert|13,912|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}}
| width = {{convert|77|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}}
| clearance = 
| below = {{convert|192|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}}
| traffic = 35,000
| cost = $115 million<ref>{{citation | url = https://www.phillyroads.com/crossings/commodore-barry/ | title = Philly Roads - Commodore Barry Bridge Historic Overview | access-date =2014-08-06}}</ref>
| open = {{start date and age|1974|02|1}}
| closed = 
| toll = $6.00 (westbound) ([E-ZPass](/source/E-ZPass))
| coordinates = {{coord|39|49|32|N|75|22|06|W|region:US-PA|display=inline,title}}
}}

The '''Commodore John Barry Bridge''' (commonly known as the '''Commodore Barry Bridge''' or simply the '''Commodore Barry''') is a [cantilever bridge](/source/cantilever_bridge) that spans the [Delaware River](/source/Delaware_River) from [Chester, Pennsylvania](/source/Chester%2C_Pennsylvania) to [Bridgeport, New Jersey](/source/Bridgeport%2C_New_Jersey), in [Logan Township](/source/Logan_Township%2C_New_Jersey). It is named after [John Barry](/source/John_Barry_(naval_officer)), an [American Revolutionary War](/source/American_Revolutionary_War) hero and [Philadelphia](/source/Philadelphia) resident.

Along with the [Betsy Ross Bridge](/source/Betsy_Ross_Bridge), the [Ben Franklin Bridge](/source/Benjamin_Franklin_Bridge) and the [Walt Whitman Bridge](/source/Walt_Whitman_Bridge), the Commodore Barry Bridge is one of the four [toll bridge](/source/toll_bridge)s connecting the metropolitan Philadelphia region with southern New Jersey owned by the [Delaware River Port Authority](/source/Delaware_River_Port_Authority). Originally designed to connect with a now-cancelled freeway, the limited-access bridge has recently{{when|date=December 2023}} been retrofitted to better serve the local area. Between 2007 and 2011, both the Delaware River Port Authority and the [Pennsylvania Department of Transportation](/source/Pennsylvania_Department_of_Transportation), in conjunction with the [Chester](/source/Chester%2C_Pennsylvania) Redevelopment Authority, built a pair of entrance-exit ramps that allowed motorists, primarily heavy truck traffic, to access the Chester Waterfront, via [PA 291](/source/Pennsylvania_Route_291) and Flower Street (via West 9th Street ([US&nbsp;13](/source/U.S._Route_13_in_Pennsylvania))) from [I-95](/source/Interstate_95_in_Pennsylvania). Other improvements, such as deck joint replacement, concrete patching (on the approaches), and other safety and engineering improvements are either ongoing or have been completed.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.drpa.org/content.asp?page=News&param=2&ItemNumber=2433 |title= Traffic Restrictions To Begin On Commodore Barry Bridge |access-date= 2008-06-01 |author= Delaware River Port Authority |author-link= Delaware River Port Authority |date= 2008-05-12 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110613191127/https://www.drpa.org/content.asp?page=News&param=2&ItemNumber=2433 |archive-date= 2011-06-13 |url-status= dead }}</ref>

The bridge replaced the Chester&ndash;Bridgeport Ferry, a ferry service that from July&nbsp;1, 1930 to February&nbsp;1, 1974,<ref>{{cite news |title=Chester-Bridgeport Ferry Starts Today |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/courier-post-chester-ferry-july-1-1930/54502499/ |access-date=April 23, 2024 |work=The Morning Post |date=1930-07-01 |location=Camden, New Jersey |page=3|via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Bridge 'Symbol' of State Cooperation |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/delaware-county-daily-times-chester-ferr/54502565/ |access-date=April 23, 2024 |work=Delaware County Daily Times |date=1974-02-01 |location=Chester, Pennsylvania |page=1|via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}</ref> was the sole means of crossing the Delaware River from [Delaware County, Pennsylvania](/source/Delaware_County%2C_Pennsylvania) to [Gloucester County, New Jersey](/source/Gloucester_County%2C_New_Jersey). The Chester side of the ferry service experienced the [Wade Dump](/source/Wade_Dump) fire and SuperFund cleanup, and has since become the city-owned Barry Bridge Park with the adjacent [Subaru Park](/source/Subaru_Park) (home of the [Major League Soccer](/source/Major_League_Soccer)'s [Philadelphia Union](/source/Philadelphia_Union) franchise) being opened in 2010.

==History==
Construction of the bridge began on April 14, 1969, and it opened to traffic on February 1, 1974. It has a total length of {{convert|13,912|ft|m}}, and a main span of {{convert|1,644|ft|m}}, making the bridge the [fourth longest cantilever bridge in the world](/source/List_of_longest_cantilever_bridges), and the longest in the United States.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.aisc.org/Content/ContentGroups/Documents/NSBA5/20_NSBA_LongestSpans.PDF | title = World's Longest Bridge Spans | last = Durkee | first = Jackson | date = 1999-05-24 | publisher = National Steel Bridge Alliance | pages = 24 | access-date = 2008-08-06 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20020601114245/https://www.aisc.org/Content/ContentGroups/Documents/NSBA5/20_NSBA_LongestSpans.PDF | archive-date = 2002-06-01}}</ref>  The road has a total of five lanes, divided by a [zipper barrier](/source/Barrier_transfer_machine), which was added to the bridge in 2002, in which a machine can configure the number of lanes in each direction, depending upon traffic volume or construction. The bridge is designated as part of [US 322](/source/U.S._Route_322) and has direct connections with [PA 291](/source/Pennsylvania_Route) (West 2nd Street), [US 13](/source/U.S._Route_13_in_Pennsylvania) (West 9th Street) and [I-95](/source/Interstate_95_in_Pennsylvania) in Chester and [US 130](/source/U.S._Route_130) in Bridgeport, with a connection to [I-295](/source/Interstate_295_(Delaware-Pennsylvania)) and the [New Jersey Turnpike](/source/New_Jersey_Turnpike) within a {{convert|5|mi|km|adj=on}} radius of the bridge.

Originally created to be a connection to one of the then-proposed [freeway](/source/freeway)s in New Jersey, the Commodore Barry Bridge was to connect [I-95](/source/Interstate_95_in_Pennsylvania) near Chester to, at one point, the [Atlantic City Expressway](/source/Atlantic_City_Expressway) near [Hammonton](/source/Hammonton%2C_New_Jersey), but those plans were eventually scrapped when it was realized that many people in the [college town](/source/college_town) of [Glassboro](/source/Glassboro%2C_New_Jersey) would be affected. There are new talks of possibly upgrading US 322 to a freeway from US 130 to [I-295's](/source/Interstate_295_(Delaware-Pennsylvania)) current Exit 11, or even as far as the [New Jersey Turnpike](/source/New_Jersey_Turnpike)'s Exit 2. There is no mention if this new freeway would be included in the [Interstate Highway System](/source/Interstate_Highway_System), though it hasn't been ruled out yet, either.

On February 2, 1978, an intense fire broke out at [Wade Dump](/source/Wade_Dump), a rubber recycling facility and illegal industrial chemical dumping site almost directly under the bridge. The heat, rising flames and noxious fumes shut down the bridge temporarily. The burning chemicals injured 43 firemen and caused long-term health problems for the first responders to the fire.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Stranahan |first1=Susan Q. |title=Beyond the Flames |url=https://inquirer.philly.com/specials/2000/fire/stories/fire30.asp |website=www.inquirer.philly.com |access-date=2018-07-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180703142740/https://inquirer.philly.com/specials/2000/fire/stories/fire30.asp |archive-date=2018-07-03 |url-status=dead }}</ref>  In 1981, the location was declared a [Superfund](/source/Superfund) cleanup site and remediation occurred throughout the 1980s. In 1989, the site was deemed safe and removed from the Superfund national priorities list. In 2004 the site was converted to a parking lot for the nearby Barry Bridge Park.<ref name=EPA>{{cite web |title=Wade (ABM) Chester, PA |url=https://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/cursites/csitinfo.cfm?id=0301343 |website=www.cumulis.epa.gov |access-date=2018-07-02}}</ref>

==Tolls==
thumb|An aerial view of the Commodore Barry Bridge
A $6.00 one-way toll is charged entering Pennsylvania for passenger vehicles less than or equal to {{convert|7000|lb|abbr=on}} gross vehicle weight and SUVs. A $18 credit will be given on a per tag basis for any New Jersey-issued [E-ZPass](/source/E-ZPass) tag that crosses one of the four DRPA bridges 18 times in a calendar month. Trucks, commercial vehicles, mobile homes and recreation vehicles (weighing at least {{convert|7001|lb|abbr=on}} gross vehicle weight), pay $9.00 cash per axle. Seniors aged 65 and over with an NJ E-ZPass can use a discount program to pay $3.00 per trip.<ref>{{cite web|title=DRPA - Travel Info |url=https://www.drpa.org/travel/senior-discount.html |access-date=2024-09-05}}</ref>

On July 17, 2024, the Delaware River Port Authority approved an increase in the toll for passenger vehicles from $5.00 to $6.00, which went into effect on September 1, 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |title=DRPA Board Votes to Reduce Planned CPI-Based Toll Increase |url=https://drpa.org/news/news.asp?param=2&num=9660 |access-date=2024-09-05 |website=[Delaware River Port Authority](/source/Delaware_River_Port_Authority)}}</ref>

==See also==
* {{Portal-inline|Transport}}
* {{Portal-inline|Engineering}}
* {{Portal-inline|Pennsylvania}}
* {{Portal-inline|New Jersey}}
* [List of crossings of the Delaware River](/source/List_of_crossings_of_the_Delaware_River)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Commodore Barry Bridge}}
* [https://drpa.org/bridges/commodore-barry-bridge.asp Delaware River Port Authority - Commodore Barry Bridge]
*[https://www.phillyroads.com/crossings/commodore-barry/ Commodore Barry Bridge: Historic Overview]
* {{Structurae|id=20000560|title=Commodore Barry Bridge}}

{{Crossings navbox
|structure       = Crossings
|place           = [Delaware River](/source/Delaware_River)
|bridge          = Commodore Barry Bridge
|bridge signs    = 25px
|upstream        = 20px&nbsp;[Walt Whitman Bridge](/source/Walt_Whitman_Bridge)<br/>20px&nbsp;[Girard Point Bridge](/source/Girard_Point_Bridge) on the [Schuylkill River](/source/List_of_crossings_of_the_Schuylkill_River)
|upstream signs  = 
|downstream      = [Delaware Memorial Bridge](/source/Delaware_Memorial_Bridge)
|downstream signs = 25px 20px
}}
{{Chester, Pennsylvania}}
{{Delaware River Port Authority}}
{{authority control}}

Category:1974 establishments in Pennsylvania
Category:Bridges completed in 1974
Category:Bridges in Delaware County, Pennsylvania
Category:Bridges of the United States Numbered Highway System
Category:Bridges over the Delaware River
Category:Cantilever bridges in the United States
Category:Chester, Pennsylvania
Category:Delaware River Port Authority
Category:Interstate vehicle bridges in the United States
Category:Logan Township, New Jersey
Category:Road bridges in New Jersey
Category:Road bridges in Pennsylvania
Category:Steel bridges in the United States
Category:Toll bridges in New Jersey
Category:Toll bridges in Pennsylvania
Category:Transportation buildings and structures in Gloucester County, New Jersey
Category:U.S. Route 322

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Commodore Barry Bridge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_Barry_Bridge) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_Barry_Bridge?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.