The Amtrak Susquehanna River Bridge is a Howe deck truss structure, opened in 1906, that carries two tracks of Amtrak's Northeast Corridor line across the Susquehanna River between Havre de Grace and Perryville, Maryland.

History

The vicinity of the bridge has been used as a river crossing for more than 300 years. In 1695, the colonial General Assembly granted the first licenses to operate a ferry between Perryville and what is now Havre de Grace. In 1837, railroad lines south from Wilmington, Delaware, and north from Baltimore arrived at the riverbanks. For 29 years, including the duration of the American Civil War, a train ferry carried passengers (on foot) and freight cars between the two towns. In 1854, a larger ferryboat began to transport entire passenger cars across the river.

In 1866, after 12 years of intermittent construction, the Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railroad (PW&B) completed a wooden single-track railroad bridge. Iron reinforcements were added between 1874 and 1880. In 1881, when the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) formally took control of the PW&B, it cut rival Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's access to the PW&B. The B&O was forced to construct a parallel route between Baltimore and Philadelphia, including a new bridge about 1 mile (1.6 km) upstream.

In 1904-06, the PRR replaced the PW&B crossing with a new bridge just a few yards upstream. Construction on the main structure started on August 5, 1905, and the first train rode over the bridge on May 26, 1906. The bridge was made parallel to the old bridge. The Pennsylvania Steel Company erected the west half of the bridge and the American Bridge Company erected the east half. A strike of American Bridge Company's employees delayed construction. The bridge was 4,154 feet in length: eight spans 260 feet in length, seven spans 200 feet and 9 inches in length and a draw span of 260 feet. Opened on May 29, 1906, it includes a center swing span to increase vertical clearance for water traffic from the nominal 52 feet (15.8 m). In 1934, the PRR began installing catenary on the span to help extend 11,000-volt electrification south from Wilmington to Washington, D.C. Regular electrified passenger service across the bridge began on February 10, 1935.

Ownership of the bridge passed to Amtrak in 1976 when it acquired much of the Northeast Corridor infrastructure.

Present status

As of 2006, about 100 Amtrak and MARC passenger trains crossed the bridge each weekday at 90 miles per hour (140 km/h); about 12 freight trains a day crossed at 30 miles per hour (48 km/h). Freight traffic, operated by Norfolk Southern Railway under a trackage rights agreement, is generally restricted to nighttime hours to avoid interfering with passenger operations.

The only significant commercial water traffic under the bridge consists of barges from a large granite quarry just upstream of Havre de Grace. The bridge's swing span rarely needs to be opened; vessels that require such an opening must provide 24-hour advance notice.

In 2005 and 2007, Amtrak replaced the ties on the bridge, installed continuous welded rail, and installed new deck-level maintenance walkways, changes meant to extend the life of the bridge by 20 to 25 years.

Replacement

Preparations to replace the 1906 bridge began in May 2011, when the U.S. Department of Transportation said it would provide $22 million for engineering and environmental work. (The Bush River and Gunpowder River bridges, two spans of similar age on the Northeast Corridor in Maryland, were also under consideration for replacement.) The project study began in 2013 and was completed in 2017. In 2017, Amtrak listed a new bridge among its "Ready To Build" projects on the Northeast Corridor.

In November 2022, Amtrak announced plans to replace the bridge, with design and construction contracts to be awarded in 2023 by Amtrak, the FRA, and MDOT MTA. In November 2023, Amtrak secured $2.1 billion for the project via the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The new bridge will include two 2-track spans and allow speeds up to 125 mph.