View source for Summit Bridge

{{about|the bridge|the community|Summit Bridge, Delaware}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox Bridge
|bridge_name= Summit Bridge
|image=Summit Bridge, April 2021.jpg
|image_size=300px
|caption=View of the bridge in April 2021
|official_name=
|also_known_as=
|carries= {{plainlist|*4 lanes of {{jct|state=DE|DE|71|DE|896|SBR|1}}}}
|crosses= [[Chesapeake & Delaware Canal]]
|locale= [[Summit Bridge, Delaware]]
|maint= [[U.S. Army Corps of Engineers]]
|id=
|design= [[Cantilever truss]] bridge
|mainspan=
|length=
|width=
|clearance= 135'
|below=
|traffic=
|open= January 9, 1960<ref name=post1760/>
|closed=
|toll=
|map_cue=
|map_image=
|map_text=
|map_width=
|coordinates= {{coord|39.540786|-75.738544|type:landmark}}
|lat=
|long=
}}

The '''Summit Bridge''' carries [[Delaware Route 71|Delaware Routes 71]] and [[Delaware Route 896|896]] across the [[Chesapeake & Delaware Canal]].  The bridge also carries [[Delaware Bicycle Route 1]], a bicycle route that spans the length of the state of Delaware, across the canal. The Summit Bridge opened to traffic on January 9, 1960, replacing a [[lift bridge]]. Before the bridge opened to traffic, a dedication ceremony was held, with U.S. Senator [[J. Allen Frear Jr.]] in attendance.<ref name=post1760>{{cite news|title=New Year-And New Bridge Over The Canal|work=Newark Post|date=January 7, 1960|page=1}}</ref> The Summit Bridge was the second four-lane high-level crossing in Delaware and was designed to carry an eventual [[U.S. Route 301 in Delaware|US 301]] freeway, however that planned freeway was never built on the alignment utilizing the Summit Bridge.  US 301 did use the bridge when it was routed along surface roads from 1961 to 2019, at which time it was rerouted onto a new toll freeway. The current bridge replaces a former swing span structure that was demolished when the [[U.S. Army Corps of Engineers]] rerouted the canal to a new sea-level channel south of [[Lums Pond State Park]]. A construction project on the approaches to the bridge was completed in Fall of 2012.

==See also==
* {{Portal-inline|Transport}}
* {{Portal-inline|Engineering}}
* [[Chesapeake & Delaware Canal#Crossings|List of crossings of the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{commons category-inline}}

{{Crossings navbox
|structure       = Bridges
|place           = [[Chesapeake & Delaware Canal]]
|bridge          = Summit Bridge
|bridge signs    = [[Image:Elongated circle 71.svg|20px]] [[Image:Ellipse sign 896.svg|25px]]
|upstream text   = West
|upstream        = [[Chesapeake City Bridge]]
|upstream signs  = [[Image:MD Route 213.svg|25px]]
|downstream text = East
|downstream      = [[Chesapeake & Delaware Canal Lift Bridge]]
|downstream signs = ''Delmarva Central Railroad''
}}

[[Category:Bridges completed in 1960]]
[[Category:Chesapeake & Delaware Canal]]
[[Category:Bridges in New Castle County, Delaware]]
[[Category:Road bridges in Delaware]]
[[Category:U.S. Route 301]]
[[Category:Bridges of the United States Numbered Highway System]]
[[Category:Cantilever bridges in the United States]]
[[Category:Truss bridges in the United States]]


{{Delaware-bridge-struct-stub}}