PHILADELPHIA — The Tacony-Palmyra Bridge, the Route 73 crossing over the Delaware River between Philadelphia's Tacony neighbourhood and Palmyra, New Jersey, was still closed to vehicles and pedestrians on Thursday night, hours after a cargo ship struck its movable span and left the bridge unable to close, officials said.
Source: Associated Press
The impact occurred at about 1:15 p.m. on Thursday, while the drawbridge was raised for vessel traffic, according to the Coast Guard as quoted by the Associated Press. The Coast Guard identified the ship as the Singapore-flagged Strategic Alliance, a 591-foot cargo vessel.
Pennsylvania state Representative Ed Neilson said in a news release that the collision left the bridge unable to close and caused a major traffic backup on the Philadelphia side. No injuries had been reported, he said — a point a Burlington County spokesperson also confirmed.
Repairs and inspections under way, but no firm reopening time
A Burlington County spokesperson told The Philadelphia Inquirer at 7:45 p.m. that repairs and inspections were under way and the Burlington County Bridge Commission hoped to reopen the bridge to motor vehicles later on Thursday night, but no firm reopening time had been set. CBS Philadelphia reported in its afternoon update that crews were assessing the bridge and likewise had no reopening time.
The Coast Guard said an inspection team was at the ship after it moored at a Kinder Morgan facility in Bristol, Pennsylvania. The bridge commission had not publicly detailed the damage in reports available on Thursday evening, and the cause of the bridge's inability to close — and the extent of any structural or mechanical damage — remained unresolved.
The Inquirer reported that drivers were being directed to alternate crossings while crews worked on the bridge. The New Jersey Department of Transportation lists the Betsy Ross Bridge, a Route 90 crossing between Philadelphia and Pennsauken, among the other Delaware River crossings drivers can check before travelling.
A 1929 bridge that still does a modern region's work
The Tacony-Palmyra Bridge opened on August 14, 1929. It is a combination steel tied-arch and double-leaf bascule bridge, maintained by the Burlington County Bridge Commission, and carries three traffic lanes — two toward Philadelphia and one toward New Jersey. A 2025 estimate cited by the Associated Press put its capacity at as many as 76,200 vehicles a day.
It is not the first time the movable span has stranded drivers. On October 10, 2013, the bascule span jammed in the open position when a roller under the maintenance walkway seized, closing the bridge for approximately eleven hours. That history is why a stuck-open span is treated as a mechanical problem to be inspected piece by piece, not simply pushed back into place.
The bridge's 2026 federal inspection records rated its deck in good condition and its substructure and superstructure in fair condition, the Associated Press reported, citing the Federal Highway Administration's National Bridge Inventory. Those ratings predate Thursday's impact and do not describe the bridge's condition after it.
Why the closure hits commuters and freight
Route 73 is a working corridor, not a scenic detour: it links the South Jersey suburbs with Northeast Philadelphia for commuters, delivery vehicles and truck traffic moving between New Jersey and Pennsylvania. When a crossing built for tens of thousands of vehicles a day cannot close, that traffic has to go somewhere — and on Thursday evening it was backing up on the Philadelphia side and being pushed toward the region's other Delaware River bridges. For Punjabi-American families and truckers who drive the Philadelphia–South Jersey corridor, the practical advice from officials was simple: expect delays and use an alternate crossing until the commission announces a reopening.
NBC10 Philadelphia reported that the strike happened as severe storms moved through the region. Officials have not said whether the crash was weather-related, and no cause had been confirmed on Thursday evening.
Source: NBC10 Philadelphia
What happens next
The bridge stays closed until inspectors finish assessing the span, any needed repairs are made, and the movable span can close safely — the commission's hoped-for reopening later on Thursday night was an aim, not a promise, and no firm time had been set by Thursday evening. In Bristol, the Coast Guard's inspection of the Strategic Alliance continues, and the investigation into how the ship struck the raised span is ongoing. Drivers crossing between Philadelphia and Burlington County should check for a reopening announcement before travelling on Friday morning.