July 11, 2025
William Bretzger/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Emergency personnel stand near a damaged portion of the railing on the southbound span of the Delaware Memorial Bridge after a tractor-trailer truck plunged off the bridge into the Delaware River before dawn Friday.
Search and rescue crews have found the tractor-trailer cab that crashed through a concrete wall of the Delaware Memorial Bridge and plummeted into the Delaware River shortly before dawn on Friday morning, but they are still looking for the driver and any occupants.
The southbound left lane is closed for police activity, but officials said traffic buildups should be limited.
The dual-span suspension bridge, about 35 miles southwest of Center City and just south of Wilmington, connects Delaware to Pennsville Township, New Jersey, via Interstate 295 and U.S Route 40.
A tractor-trailer cab drove through a concrete wall on the southbound left lane of the Delaware Memorial Bridge Friday morning.
According to the Delaware River and Bay Authority, which owns the Delaware Memorial Bridge, a Bobtail Tractor was driving southbound across the bridge at around 3:40 a.m. when it veered through three lanes of traffic and crashed into a concrete wall.
The impact caused the wall to collapse, sending the truck into the water. No other vehicles were involved in the crash.
Search and rescue teams from the U.S. Coast Guard Air and Marine units, Wilmington Police Department, local fire companies, Delaware's environmental department and dive teams from the New Castle County Emergency Management, State of Delaware Special Operations and the Delaware State Police Marine Unit have been on site since early Friday morning to the driver and any occupants.
As of 9:30 a.m., officials said they did not know how many people were in the trailer, which recently had been located about 20 feet underwater. Experts were assessing how safe it was for dive teams to investigate the scene more closely, DRBA public information officer James Salmon said.
Salmon said engineers were on-site to assess the damage to the bridge and found no structural damage to the bridge. Temporary traffic barriers have been installed, and emergency repairs are likely to be solicited early next week.
