Delaware River toll bridge agency recalls devastation of 1955 flood ahead of 70th anniversary
NEW JERSEY — The Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission on Friday reissued its account of the record-setting Delaware River flood of 1955, ahead of the 70th anniversary of the disaster that reshaped communities and crossings along the river.
“The most devastating flood of the Delaware River, ever recorded, occurred on August 19 and 20, 1955, presenting many new and challenging problems for the Commission and its Administrative and Engineering Staffs,” the Commission wrote in its 1955 annual report.
The United States Weather Bureau at the time attributed the flood to the back-to-back impacts of hurricanes Connie and Diane. “The warm moist air mass that had covered this area for days was penetrated by Hurricane ‘Diane,’ which weakened, as its low pressure area moved rapidly from Northern Virginia to Cape Cod. An effect was to force the warm air higher, where it cooled quickly and was unable to hold its moisture. The ground was already drenched from Hurricane ‘Connie’ and there was no place for water to go except in run-offs in tributary creeks of the Delaware and other rivers,” the report said.
Floodwaters destroyed four free bridges and heavily damaged others. Temporary Bailey-type spans were erected in Easton and Phillipsburg in 1956 to restore traffic until permanent repairs could be made. Although toll bridges briefly closed due to flooded access roads, no toll structure suffered direct damage.
The Commission’s report also detailed the closure periods of the non-toll bridges jointly operated by New Jersey and Pennsylvania at the time. The Lower Trenton “Trenton Makes” bridge was closed for three days, while spans at Yardley-Wilburtha, Point Pleasant-Byram, and Portland-Columbia were destroyed entirely. Other crossings, including Washington Crossing, Lambertville-New Hope, and Northampton Street in Easton-Phillipsburg, were closed for months while repairs were made.
The Commission noted that the Trenton-Morrisville Toll Bridge remained open throughout the flood, serving briefly as the only operational Delaware River crossing under its jurisdiction.
Today, the Commission said the 1955 flood remains a landmark event in its history and in the collective memory of Delaware River communities, marking the region’s vulnerability to catastrophic weather and the resiliency required to rebuild.
