The bridge's location has been a major crossing point since the establishment of a ferry here as early as the 17th century and certainly by 1740. In 1777, British troops built a pontoon bridge here during their occupation of Philadelphia, and the newly independent Americans subsequently kept it up, replacing parts as necessary after floods. In 1838, the PW&B built the first permanent bridge here to complete the first direct rail link from Philadelphia to Wilmington, Delaware, and Baltimore, Maryland. Called the Newkirk Viaduct, it was a covered wooden bridge that carried a road as well as one track. The bridge did not initially allow locomotives to pass so the cars were pulled by horses over the river and northward along three miles of track to the terminus of the PW&B. A new draw span was constructed in 1891, but maintenance remained difficult for the rest of the decade. In 1901, when the city of Philadelphia opened an adjacent highway bridge, it absolved the PW&B of the responsibility of carrying the road traffic, and the railroad promptly began building the PW&B Bridge No. 1.
Design and construction (1901-1902)
The bridge has a swing span pivoting on a cylindrical stone pier at mid-stream. A wooden pile fender protects the pivot pier and the opened swing span from collisions with boat traffic on the river. The American Bridge Company built the swing span on the fender in its open position, avoiding interference with river traffic. The swing span sits between two approach spans. "The mechanism, located on the swing span and driven by steam, is typical of movable bridge construction at the turn of the twentieth century," wrote historian Justin Spivey. It was completed and opened in 1902.
Operation and abandonment (1902-1976)
Maximum speed over the bridge was. In 1976, Conrail abandoned the bridge shortly after it acquired the Pennsylvania Railroad properties, and left it permanently open.
Post-abandonment (1977-present)
An unknown party purchased the bridge in 1987. In 2012, Philadelphia MayorMichael Nutter proposed to return the bridge to service as a part of the Schuylkill River Trail, a bike trail. Under the proposal, the bridge would be raised some so that boats — in particular, a towboat used to bring oil barges to the Trigen power plant upstream — could pass without swinging it open. In May 2016, councilmember Kenyatta Johnson introduced a bill in Philadelphia City Council to allow the city to acquire the bridge and some surrounding land from Conrail. In November 2017, Conrail transferred ownership of the bridge to the City of Philadelphia, which planned a $13 million project to replace the truss with a bike-trail structure. On August 23, 2018, the bridge's truss and superstructure were demolished. The pilings remain as a foundation for the planned bike-pedestrian bridge.
