Northampton Street Bridge

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Northampton Street Bridge
Northampton Street Bridge between Easton, Pennsylvania and Phillipsburg, New Jersey
Coordinates	40°41′30″N 75°12′14″W / 40.691545°N 75.204004°W / 40.691545; -75.204004
Carries	3 lanes of Northampton Street and 2 sidewalks
Crosses	Delaware River
Locale	Easton, Pennsylvania, and Phillipsburg, New Jersey
Official name	Northampton Street Toll Supported Bridge
Other name(s)	The Free Bridge Easton-Phillipsburg Bridge
Maintained by	Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission
Characteristics
Total length	560 feet (170 m)
Load limit	3 short tons (2.7 t)
History
Designer	James Madison Porter III
Opened	1896
Replaces	Ferry (1739–1806) Covered bridge (1806–1896)
Location

The Northampton Street Bridge is a bridge that crosses the Delaware River, connecting Easton, Pennsylvania, and Phillipsburg, New Jersey, United States. It is maintained by the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission despite not being a toll bridge. It is known locally as the "Free Bridge" thus distinguishing it from the Easton–Phillipsburg Toll Bridge just upstream to the north. The crossing was first a ferry crossing run by David Martin, beginning in 1739.

The original wooden bridge opened on October 14, 1806. The original bridge was designed and built by Timothy Palmer, one of the most famous bridge builders of his time. Palmer's covered bridge at Easton 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 the demands of traffic and a new structure was erected in 1895. The new bridge was designed by James Madison Porter III, an alumnus of nearby Lafayette College and later a professor of civil engineering there. Porter hailed from a family long prominent in Easton and Pennsylvania history.

Tolls were charged until 1921, when the DRJTBC bought it from the Delaware Bridge Company.^[1]

The bridge is currently posted for a 3-short-ton (2.7 t) weight limit and a 15-mile-per-hour (24 km/h) speed limit. Noted as "combining aesthetics with economical design", the bridge was designated a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers and commemorated in 1995.^[2]