As a safety precaution, police will stop traffic on the northbound and southbound sides of the bridge while a 188 feet crane on a vessel passes under the bridge headed to Philadelphia.

NEW CASTLE (DE): Don’t be surprise of a thirty minute delay in getting over the bridge tonight because police say, at approximately 1 AM, early Saturday morning, March 24, 2018, ZHEN HUA 16, a heavy lift vessel transporting new ship-to-shore (STS) cranes bound for Philadelphia will be navigating beneath the spans of the Delaware Memorial Bridge.

As a precaution and to eliminate driver distraction, the Delaware Memorial Bridge Northbound and Southbound will be Temporarily Closed to all traffic for a period of approximately 30 minutes while the ship travels north to Philadelphia. This temporary closure may take place sometime between 12:30 AM and 1:30 AM early Saturday morning. Traffic delays are expected, and motorists should plan accordingly.

The distance from the water level to the top of the cranes aboard the ZHEN HUA 16 is 188 feet, 5 inches. Due to tides levels and the Delaware Memorial Bridge’s measured clearances, the vessel must travel under the spans during the period of low tide.

Both spans of the Delaware Memorial Bridge will reopen to traffic once the ZHEN HUA 16 clears the structures. Produced by Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industry Company in China, the two new super-post-Panamax cranes are destined for PhilaPort’s Packer Avenue Marine Terminal.