Northampton "Free" Bridge

The Northampton Street Bridge crosses the Delaware River, connecting Phillipsburg New Jersey, to Easton Pennsylvania.

This bridge is a unique blend of engineering and artistry unlike any other bridge in the country. It has the appearance of an eyebar suspension bridge, but, looking closer, this bridge is a true cantilever-truss bridge. The cantilever arms of this bridge hold a 50-foot suspended span truss in the center that has a cleverly disguised design wherein there is no change in the curve of the top chord as it transitions from the cantilever arm to the suspended span. The main indication of the transition is that the diagonal members suddenly become compression members in the center, where the diagonals on the rest of the bridge are tension members referred to as eyebars. The suspended span follows a warren truss configuration.

Very few cantilever bridges remain in use in the United States that are entirely pin-connected, and as such, the Northampton Street Bridge is technologically significant. The bridge is also beautifully designed and includes decorative finials, plaques, and statues of the Pennsylvania and New Jersey state seals.

The bridge and road leading up to the entrance are maintained by the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission, despite not being a toll bridge. It's known locally as the "Free Bridge," subsidized from the Bushkill Street Bridge Tolls, just upstream to the north, and the busiest non-toll bridge managed by the commission.

The crossing was first a ferry crossing run by David Martin using a canoe, beginning in 1739. The first bridge across the Delaware between Phillipsburg and Easton was erected about eighteen hundred and was washed away by a freshet after a few years of operation. In 1805 the Easton Delaware Bridge Company raised capital by a lottery, collecting enough money to build a two-lane wooden arch bridge, which served for nearly a century before it was torn down, and the present iron one was erected in its place in 1895.

The original wooden bridge opened on October 14, 1806. Timothy Palmer, one of the most famous bridge builders, designed and built the original bridge. Palmer's covered bridge at Phillipsburg endured many floods and storms while other bridges fell. However, by the late nineteenth century, when horse-drawn streetcars were replaced by trolley cars, the old wooden bridge could no longer handle traffic demands, and a new structure was erected in 1895. It was constructed by the Union Bridge Company for the former Easton Delaware Bridge Company in 1895 and 1896. The new bridge was designed by James Madison Porter the third, an alumnus of nearby Lafayette College and later a professor of civil engineering there. 

Tolls were charged until 1921 when the DRJTBC bought it from the Delaware Bridge Company.  In the Spring of 2022, the bridge commission contracted for a full restoration, refurbished from top to bottom, able to transport people and cars, sorry, no trucks, in and out of Phillipsburg New Jersey, for a budget not to exceed $15,487,427 and 50 cents. I know, that's oddly specific, right?