page_title: Gray's Ferry Bridge
section_title: Grays Ferry Bridge (1901-76)
hierarchical_section_title: Gray's Ferry Bridge / Permanent bridges / Grays Ferry Bridge (1901-76)
caption_attribution_description: English: 1901 photograph of the Grays Ferry Bridge, which carried automotive traffic and streetcars across the Schuylkill River in southern Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, until it was replaced in 1976. Built in 1901, it replaced the street-traffic function of the 1838 Newkirk Viaduct (also known as the Gray's or Grays Ferry Bridge), which carried trains and road traffic.
context_page_description: Gray's Ferry Bridge has been the formal or informal name of several floating bridges and four permanent ones that have carried highway and rail traffic over the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia. The bridge today is a four-lane divided highway bridge, built in 1976, that carries Grays Ferry Avenue from the Grays Ferry neighborhood on the east bank, over the river and the Northeast Corridor railroad tracks, to the Southwest Philadelphia neighborhood of Kingsessing.
  In 1902, rail traffic was taken over by the adjacent Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad Bridge No. 1, which in 2019 and 2020 is being rebuilt for use by cyclists and pedestrians traveling the Schuylkill River Trail.
context_section_description: By the end of the 19th century, the narrow Newkirk Viaduct was a roadway bottleneck. "Much of the traffic that would naturally cross the river at Gray's Ferry has been diverted to the South Street bridge because of the congested conditions that exist from morning until night at the railroad crossing," wrote the Philadelphia Record in 1900. "The steep incline at the western end of the old bridge has always been an obstacle to heavily-laden wagons, and at times during the day the crush of teams is actually dangerous." In December 1896, the city of Philadelphia appropriated $400,000 to build the new Grays Ferry Bridge (it ultimately cost about $475,000). The appropriation was authorized by ordinance the following April.
  The stonework was completed in December 1898 by Jutte and Foley Company of Pittsburgh for $250,000. The five river piers were excavated to bedrock, as were most of the bridge's abutments and pedestals. The masonry was "rockfaced ashlar, with coping and bridge seats of Port Deposit granite."
  The metal superstructure, plus a timber fender on the eastern side of the west draw channel and a cluster of wooden pilings at the north end of the west draw pier, were built by the Phoenix Bridge Company, which completed its work on March 1, 1901, under a $145,959.98 contract. The pavement, railings, and "other appurtenances" were completed May 20, by the Alcatraz Paving Company for $66,870.
  The bridge was 1,190 feet long, including 1,660 feet of metal superstructure, with a 36-foot-wide roadway and two 10-foot-wide sidewalks. It also held two trolley tracks belonging to the Union Traction Company, "connecting the Spruce and Pine streets division with the Darby lines on Woodland Avenue at Gray's Ferry road." The west end was far higher than the old Newkirk Viaduct, for it crossed over the 14-track PW&B railyard. River traffic was accommodated by a 223-foot, 6-inch swing span that allowed 75 feet of open water to each side of its central pier. The span could open in just one minute, thanks to electric motors powered by cables under the river (a backup system required 12 men to crank for 10 minutes against "a moderate wind"), although its 22-foot clearance allowed police and fireboats to pass without opening.
  The bridge opened on March 9, 1901, releasing the railroad from the obligation to maintain the highway portion of its Newkirk Viaduct, and the PW&B promptly closed the road. Under the deal, the railroad gave back the $55,000 it had received for perpetual maintenance under the agreement of 1847, and $20,000 for city-funded improvements to the Viaduct over the years.
  By January 1, 1902, the draw had been opened 2,653 times for the passage of 4,969 ships and boats.
  A 1902 U.S. Geologic Survey report called the area "Grays Ferry" without the apostrophe.
caption: The 1901 Grays Ferry Bridge replaced the non-railroad functions of the Newkirk Viaduct. It carried automotive traffic and streetcars.
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