The U.S. Department of Transportation said on Wednesday it will invest $600 million to rebuild the Delaware River Bridge between Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Funded through the Federal Highway Administration’s large Bridge Investment Program (BIP), the grant will provide the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission with $600 million for the PA Turnpike-I-95 Interchange Program Delaware River Bridge, a replacement of the existing 1956 Delaware River Bridge structure. The bridge connects Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and Burlington County, New Jersey, and sees 3,918,640 trucks annually (10,736 trucks per day) and 67,100 vehicles per day. Replacing the bridge is crucial to decreasing delays along the busy stretch of highway.
“These Trump Administration investments into America’s highways are about more than just rebuilding old roads—it’s the modern-day successor to the Eisenhower Administration’s vision for American highways,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy said. “On the East Coast alone, this $600 million investment will rebuild essential arteries that feed our nation’s economy and support tens of thousands of jobs.”
According to the US DOT, in 2017, a main structural member supporting the bridge fractured which put the bridge at risk of imminent failure. While emergency repairs were made, the bridge is at risk of falling into poor condition within three years, officials said. The bridge project will increase resiliency by reducing the area obstructing river flow during high water events, and incorporation other critical improvement to safeguard the asset, neighboring communities and the Delaware River.
“By investing $600 million to rebuild this critical bridge over the Delaware River, the Trump Administration is revitalizing essential arteries that drive our nation’s economic dominance,” FHWA Administrator Sean McMaster said.
The FHWA’s Bridge Investment Program (BIP), part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, was designed to improve bridges in poor condition and to upgrade design standards for outdated bridges. The IIJA authorized $12.5 billion over five years in competitive grants for bridge projects with a total eligible cost of over $100 million.