Philip J. Fahy Memorial Bridge
The Philip J. Fahy Memorial Bridge is a bridge that crosses the Lehigh River in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. It is locally known as The Fahy Bridge, The Fahy, or The New Street Bridge. It carries New Street in the city of Bethlehem (unsigned SR 3011) across the river.
Phillip J. Fahy Memorial Bridge | |
|---|---|
 Bridge during the President's Day Storm of 2003. | |
| Coordinates | 40°36′55″N 75°22′43″W |
| Carries | 4 lanes of New Street (SR3011), 2 sidewalks |
| Crosses | Lehigh River |
| Locale | Bethlehem (Center City) to Bethlehem (South Side) |
| Official name | Phillip J. Fahy Memorial Bridge |
| Other name(s) | Fahy Bridge New Street Bridge |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Steel rigid frame bridge[1] |
| Total length | 1,466 feet (447 m)[1] |
| Width | 55.1 feet (16.8 m) (deck width)[1] |
| History | |
| Opened | 1972 (current structure) |
| Location | |
Name
On August 29, 1969, Officer Phillip Fahy and his partner Officer Merle Getz were on patrol when they attempted to stop a vehicle driven by a Bebley Wells. After pursuing the vehicle to an area off of the Williams St. Ext. Wells exited his vehicle and immediately fired a shotgun at Officer Fahy, mortally wounding him. Officer Getz was able to return fire, striking Wells several times. Wells was later tried and convicted for the murder of Officer Fahy and died serving a life term for 1st-degree murder in the Pennsylvania State Prison System in 2004. The bridge was named the Phillip J. Fahy Memorial Bridge in Officer Fahy's honor.
History
There have been several bridges at this location since the late 19th century. The New Street Bridge Company owned one previous bridge; in 1915, it charged a toll of one cent for pedestrians, two cents for motorcycles, between five and fifteen cents for passenger cars, depending on the size and number of seats, and one-half cent per passenger carried over the bridge via streetcar.[2] The bridge was replaced in 1970 with the current structure.[3] In 2011, PennDOT closed the sidewalk on the bridge following a bridge inspection that discovered structural deterioration in the steel supporting the sidewalk and the concrete sidewalk itself.[4] A rehabilitation project was undertaken in 2016.[5]
References
- "Lehigh River New Street Bridge".
- Wilcox, Delos (1918). Report on the Transit Problems of Bethlehem, Pa., and Vicinity: With Recommendations for their Solution. Times publishing Company.
- "The four bridges of South Bethlehem | Bethlehem Press". Archived from the original on 2018-11-01.
- "Fahy Bridge sidewalk in Bethlehem shuttered because of deteriorating support steel". 27 August 2011.
- "Work on Bethlehem's Fahy Bridge to begin next month".