SULLIVANS BRIDGE AT VALLEY FORGE NATIONAL HISTORIC PARK
Status of the Project: Completed
Construction Started: February 2014
Construction Completed: June 2017
Cost: $10,000,000
General Contractor: J.D. Eckman, Inc. of Atglen, Chester County
TRAIL BRIDGE NAME
The National Park Service and the Friends of Valley Forge National Park sponsored a
contest in 2013 to name the new pedestrian/bicycle trail bridge. In September 2014, it was announced that the trail bridge would be called “Sullivan’s Bridge” after Major General John Sullivan, the officer who was charged by General George Washington with building a bridge across the Schuylkill River during the 1777-78 Valley Forge winter encampment of the Continental Army.
BENEFITS - CONNECTIONS
The new trail bridge improves recreational opportunities, expands bicycle commuter options and improve access for VFNHP visitors. It provides a vastly improved route for pedestrians and bicyclists to cross the Schuylkill River when traveling between VFNHP and the Schuylkill River Trail, and has allowed for a connection with the Upper Merion Township Trail on the south side of the Schuylkill River. The Upper Merion Trail connection is complete---allowing pedestrians and cyclists to travel the 15.5 mile trail and greenway through Upper Merion Township, Bridgeport, West Conshohocken, Lower Merion Township, Bala Cynwyd and into the City of Philadelphia.
OWNERSHIP
PennDOT will transfer ownership of the right-of-way and bridges to Upper Merion Township and West Norriton Township at the ultimate end of construction. Under a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), the National Park Service will own and maintain the new trail bridge over the Schuylkill River and the bridge over the Norfolk Southern Railroad. West Norriton Township will own Trooper Road where it’s open to vehicular traffic north of the Schuylkill River and the bridge over the Schuylkill River Trail.
