The first span Following the opening of the
Benjamin Franklin Bridge in
Philadelphia, residents of Delaware and New Jersey began to advocate a crossing of the river in the area of
Wilmington, Delaware. As commercial pressures mounted, a ferry service began, as an interim measure, to run in 1926, near the bridge's current location. Advocates of a
bridge crossing between Delaware and New Jersey faced strong opposition from the
Port of Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Department of Wharves, Docks, and Ferries, and the
Delaware River Joint Commission, which claimed that the bridge would be hinder navigation. The
U.S. Navy and
U.S. Coast Guard were also concerned that the bridge would be vulnerable to an enemy attack. If the bridge were to collapse into the river, it could render the
Philadelphia Navy Yard unusable. As traffic by cars and truck increased rapidly, the benefits of a bridge in this area became evident, and its construction was authorized by the highway departments of Delaware and New Jersey in 1945. Originally, a two-lane
highway tunnel was considered, but the costs for a four-lane bridge was found to be equivalent in price, therefore being the reason a four-lane bridge was chosen.
Congress approved the bridge project on July 13, 1946, and its construction began on February 1, 1949. The project cost $44 million, and it took two years to complete the high span with towers reaching above water level. The first span opened to traffic on August 16, 1951, and at the time was the sixth-longest main suspension span in the world. The
Governor of Delaware,
Elbert N. Carvel, and the
Governor of New Jersey,
Alfred E. Driscoll, dedicated the bridge to each state's war dead from
World War II. The bridge quickly proved a popular travel route when the
New Jersey Turnpike connection was completed at its north end. By 1955, nearly eight million vehicles were crossing the bridge each year, nearly twice the original projection. By 1960, the bridge was carrying more than 15 million cars and trucks per year, and this increased even more when the bridge was linked to the new Delaware Turnpike,
Interstate 95, in November 1963.
The second span Construction of the second span began in mid-1964, north of the original span. It was completed at a cost of $77 million and opened on September 12, 1968, dedicated to those soldiers from Delaware and New Jersey killed in the
Korean War and
Vietnam War. The original span was closed down for fifteen months for refurbishment: its suspenders were replaced and its deck and median barrier were removed and replaced with a single deck to allow four undivided lanes of traffic. Finally, on December 29, 1969, all eight lanes of the Delaware Memorial Bridge Twin Span opened to traffic, making it the world's second-longest twin suspension bridge. While they are similar in basic appearance, major differences exist between the original and second spans. The original was constructed of riveted steel plates, and has an open-grate shoulder access walk. The second span was constructed mostly of welded steel plates (with heavy riveted joints in crucial areas) like with most contemporary steel bridges, and also has concrete access walks. The original suspension span carries northbound traffic for
Interstate 295, the newer southbound. Crossover lanes on each side of the bridge can allow two-way traffic on one span if the other must be closed for an extensive period of time.
1969–present On July 9, 1969, the oil tanker
Regent Liverpool struck the fender system protecting the tower piers. The bridge itself was spared damage, but the fender suffered about $1.0 million in damage. The Delaware River and Bay Authority (DRBA) began a $13 million project in 2003 to resurface the bridge, refurbish the
expansion joints, upgrade the electrical system, and replace the elevators in the four towers. This work was completed in 2008. In 2022 the DRBA began a project to apply
ultra-high performance concrete to the driving surface of the eastbound span (i.e., northbound Interstate 295). The Delaware Memorial Bridge Protection System began in July 2023. The $93 million ship collision protection system project consists of the installation of eight stone-filled
dolphins, each measuring in diameter. Four cells are being installed at the piers supporting both eastern and western towers and will be located a minimum of from the edge of the Delaware River's channel. Construction is expected to be completed in September 2025. ==Toll==