Rebuilding Roebling Delaware Aqueduct Bridge

The Roebling Delaware Aqueduct Bridge was designed and erected by John A. Roebling, designer of the Brooklyn Bridge, in 1850 to carry the Delaware and Hudson Canal over the Delaware River between Minisink Ford, New York, and Lackawaxen, Pennsylvania. The canal was abandoned in 1898, and the aqueduct was converted into a toll bridge about 1900. Due to deterioration and other damage, it was closed to vehicles in 1977 and reopened in 1987 after restoration to accommodate vehicles up to 10 tons. Future plans call for the addition of trunk walls and pedestrian “tow paths” walkways. Because the original water load was a constant uniform load across all the spans and the lighter traffic load consists of moving nonuniform loads, sliding of the cables on top of the saddles and excess deflection of the deck under moving concentrated loads were two of the major concerns. These were overcome by the addition of two stiffening trusses in each span with 3‐in. overall thicknesses and hidden within the future trunk walls and by the use of a heavy concrete deck.