These were taken from Camden NJ looking towards Philadelphia PA across the Delaware river. Older bridges as you can see are a lot more substantial.
The much more substantial piers are as much a function of it being a suspension bridge as due to its age. They need to be able to sustain much greater loads than a through truss bridge, the entire weight of the bridge resting on just two piers, as opposed to being distributed across four or more.
Clearance work has started:
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There is now a channel open for smaller vessels:
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The US Army Corps of Engineers said today that they expect to have a limited access channel open by the end of April. This will be 35 feet deep vs the main channel's 50 feet. Their aim is to have the original channel open by the end of May.