The Walt Whitman Bridge is a green-colored single-level suspension bridge spanning the Delaware River from Philadelphia to Gloucester City, New Jersey. Named after the poet Walt Whitman, who resided in nearby Camden toward the end of his life, the Walt Whitman Bridge is one of the larger bridges on the east coast of the United States. The bridge is owned and operated by the Delaware River Port Authority.
Construction on the bridge began in 1953, and it opened to traffic on May 16, 1957. The bridge has a total length of 11,981 feet (3,652 m), and a main span of 610 metres (2,000 ft). The bridge has seven lanes, three in each direction and a center lane that is shifted variably (via a zipper barrier) to accommodate heavy traffic.
The bridge is a part of Interstate 76 (at milepost 351.98) (which, between the river and the Pennsylvania Turnpike interchange in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, is known as the "Schuylkill Expressway"). Along with the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, Betsy Ross Bridge, Delaware Memorial Bridge, and Commodore Barry Bridge, the Walt Whitman Bridge is one of five expressway-standard bridges connecting the Philadelphia area with southern New Jersey.
The bridge was designed by noted civil engineer Othmar Ammann.
Read more about Walt Whitman Bridge: Tolls
Famous quotes containing the words walt whitman, whitman and/or bridge:
“Out of the cradle endlessly rocking,
Out of the mocking-bird’s throat, the musical shuttle,
Out of the Ninth-month midnight,
Over the sterile sands and the fields beyond, where the child
leaving his bed wandered alone, bareheaded, barefoot”
—Walt Whitman (1819–1892)
“Camerado! This is no book;
Who touches this touches a man.”
—Walt Whitman (1819–1892)
“I see four nuns
who sit like a bridge club,
their faces poked out
from under their habits,”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)