A photographic look at the bridges crossing the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal in Delaware and Maryland.

Chesapeake City Bridge – Maryland Route 213

The Chesapeake City Bridge (Maryland 213) joins North and South Chesapeake City in Cecil County. The two-lane steel arch bridge opened to traffic in 1949, replacing a vertical lift bridge previously built in 1927. On July 28, 1942, the tanker Franz Klasen struck the original span, resulting in its destruction.1 Similarly a ship collision also destroyed the St. Georges vertical lift bridge.2

Summit Bridge – Delaware State Route 71/896

Completed in 1959, the Summit Bridge (SR 71 and SR 896) carries four lanes of traffic between the Glasgow and Middletown suburbs. Initially envisioned as just a two-lane crossing, a Delaware politician successfully lobbied to have the bridge built with additional capacity. The steel through truss bridge, and the nearby railroad lift bridge built in 1966, were recognized by the American Institute of Steel Construction as the most beautiful bridges of their types in the years they were completed.2

William Roth Bridge – Delaware State Route 1

The fifth span opened across the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal carries SR 1 to the west of St. Georges. The cable-stayed bridge is comprised of precast concrete segments supported by cables with gold colored casings. Opened on December 23, 1995 with six travel lanes and full shoulders, the bridge deck can be reconfigured to accommodate eight overall lanes. State officials named the span the U.S. Senator William V. Roth, Jr. Bridge on July 9, 2007.

St. Georges Bridge – U.S. 13

The St. Georges Bridge carries U.S. 13 (Dupont Highway) over the split community of St. Georges and the C & D Canal. The steel arch bridge opened to traffic in 1942 and currently carries two lanes of traffic with bike lanes striped in each direction. A $10-million project completed in 2002 both refurbished the bridge with a new concrete deck and repainted the span.

Reedy Point Bridge – Delaware State Route 9

The easternmost bridge of the Canal crossings is the Reedy Point Bridge. The two-lane cantilever span carries Delaware 9 north from Port Penn and Augustine Wildlife Area to Fifth Street through Delaware City. Fort DuPont and McConnell Tract Parks spread west and east of the northern bridge approach. Opened in 1968, the Reedy Point Bridge and the Summit Bridge were completed as part of the 1954 improvement authorization for the C & D Canal.2

Sources:

  1. ChesapeakeCity.com About Page. http://www.chesapeakecity.com/about.htm
  2. The Chesapeake & Delaware Canal (U.S. Army Corp of Engineers). http://www.nap.usace.army.mil/sb/c&d.htm

Page Updated December 12, 2018