[WATCH]: Massive Cargo Ship Squeezes Under Bridge With Just a Few Feet to Spare

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  • The Zhen Hua 25, a cargo ship cleared the Delaware River Bridge bridge at 11:45 p.m. Tuesday.
  • The vessel was carrying three cranes nearly 188 feet tall on its way to the PhilaPort’s Packer Avenue Marine Terminal in Philadelphia.
  • The ship had to wait until low tide in order to safely move under the bridge without striking the structure.
  • The equipment on the bridge measured the clearance between the bridge and the cranes as 5 feet, 2 inches.

A ship carrying three massive cranes passed under the Delaware River Bridge late Tuesday night without any issues, reports NJ.com.

What happened?

According to Delaware River and Bay Authority (DRBA) spokesman Jim Salmon, the Zhen Hua 25, a cargo ship registered to Hong Kong, cleared the bridge at 11:45 p.m. Tuesday. The vessel was carrying three cranes nearly 188 feet tall on its way to the PhilaPort’s Packer Avenue Marine Terminal in Philadelphia.

A Close Call

Due to the height of its cargo, the ship had to wait until low tide in order to safely move under the bridge without striking the structure. Salmon said equipment on the bridge measured the clearance between the bridge and the cranes as 5 feet, 2 inches.

When the vessel arrived at the Philadelphia port, it offloaded two cranes and was scheduled to make the same trip back down the Delaware River and head to Wilmington, North Carolina.

Incident Recorded

The DRBA used three cameras (one on the bridge’s catwalk, one from the southbound New Jersey tower and one on a gantry) to capture the cargo ship’s journey under the twin-span structure. The DRBA operates and maintains the bridge.

Bridge Closed to Avoid Distracted Drivers

Traffic was stopped in both directions on the bridge to prevent drivers from being distracted while watching the ship move up the river. Since the ship will make the return trip with one remaining crane, the bridge, which connects Delaware with New Jersey, will close again. Details are not yet available on what time the bridge will close.

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Source: nj.com