The long-awaited Schuylkill River swing bridge that will connect Grays Ferry Crescent Park to Bartram’s Garden is expected to open this winter.
Earlier this month, construction crews placed six new truss segments at the site of a former swing bridge that was dismantled in 2018. The project, named Schuylkill Crossing, will extend the Schuylkill River Trail to the Bartram’s Mile Trail in Southwest Philly, allowing pedestrians and cyclists to easily cross the river.
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A swing bridge can rotate horizontally on vertical axis. When boats approach, traffic can be stopped and the bridge rotated, allowing the boat to pass.
This summer, crews have been tasked with connecting the truss segments, conducting rebar and concrete work and adding stainless steel mesh inserts and railings to the bridge deck, Department of Streets Communications Manager Christopher Young said. Landscaping work will begin along the bridge’s approach structures at Bartram’s Garden and Crescent Park, too.
This fall, precise balancing and electrical and mechanical operations will begin, leading up to the project’s slated completion this winter.
When completed, Schuylkill Crossing will extend the Schuykill River Trail 1.5 miles farther south — nearly to 61st Street. This adds to the Schuylkill River Greenways’ long-term goal of creating a continuous, 120-mile trail from Frackville, Schuylkill County to Philadelphia. It follows the completion in May of a new bridge that connects the trail from Christian Street to Crescent Park.
“This project involves a specialized team including ironworkers, electricians and millwrights; It is a unique and complex project for the City of Philadelphia,” Young said. “The Department of Streets is excited to re-establish this connection, extend our incredible trail network and increase access to green space and recreational opportunities.”
The installation of the new truss segments marks a major milestone for the long-delayed Schuylkill Crossing project, which received federal funding in November 2015. Bureaucratic hurdles slowed the project’s progress for years due to the historic nature of the former railroad bridge.
“The original construction contract was $15 million,” Young said. “Costs have increased due to multiple factors including the pandemic, changes in material costs, and modifications to the truss. Costs associated with these and other factors are still being finalized as the project team works with the contractor and our state and federal funding partners.”
The former swing bridge sat along one of the most popular railroad lines in the region in the 19th century. The former bridge, built in 1901 and abandoned in the early 1980s, stretched 1,190 feet and was one of the only structures of its kind in Pennsylvania at the time.