Wooden spools in Chester

Pennsylvania's oldest city

Chester, on the Delaware River in Delaware County, is the oldest city in Pennsylvania, settled before Philadelphia. For much of the twentieth century it was an industrial powerhouse, with shipyards, factories and refineries along the riverfront. Many of those industries have gone, but the riverfront is still working land: power and waste-to-energy plants, warehouses, recycling yards, port-related businesses and manufacturing. The Philadelphia Union's soccer stadium stands on the riverfront right beside the Commodore Barry Bridge, and Widener University's campus is in the city.

What Chester produces

The city's reel sources range from large to small:

• Riverfront industry. Plants and warehouses along the Delaware and PA 291 produce mid-size and large reels from maintenance, upgrades and new equipment. Utility and plant contractors there use returnable and steel reels more often than house electricians do.
• Redevelopment. New buildings on former industrial land, and the stadium area, bring construction work with feeders, lighting and data.
• University and hospital work. Campus buildings and health-care facilities run continuous upgrades.
• Houses. Row houses and twins across the city are renovated and rewired, leaving small reels and spools.

The Commodore Barry Bridge

The Commodore Barry Bridge crosses the Delaware from Chester to Bridgeport in Logan Township, New Jersey. It is the closest crossing to the Pureland Industrial Complex and the Gloucester County river towns. For us, that makes Chester the hinge between Delaware County and South Jersey: a truck can collect in Chester in the morning and cross to Logan Township in the afternoon, or the other way round.

Other roads

I-95 runs through Chester parallel to the river, with an interchange for US 322 and the bridge. PA 291 runs along the riverfront toward Eddystone, Essington and the airport. US 322 runs northwest toward Concordville and West Chester. I-476 (the Blue Route) meets I-95 a few miles northeast, giving access to the Main Line and Plymouth Meeting.

Planning a riverfront pickup

Riverfront plants often have security gates, safety rules and their own contractors. Tell us:

1. the gate to use and the hours;
2. any personal protective equipment required on site;
3. who can release the reels;
4. whether any reels are owned by a supplier or a utility.

Reels left outside on the riverfront for a long time are exposed to damp and wind. Check the bottom rims for softness and the staves for looseness before calling them reusable.

Small pickups in the city

For a few spools from a house or a small reel from a shop, tell us the address and where the material is. Chester pickups are added to runs along the riverfront and across the bridge, so small requests are collected without waiting long.

Recycling

Much of what comes out of old industrial sites in Chester is broken, rotten or partly dismantled reels. It is still worth collecting. Wood goes to recycling, steel to scrap. The broken reels page has the details.

Shipyards to soccer

Chester's riverfront was once lined with shipyards: the Sun Shipbuilding yard built tankers and cargo ships for decades, employing tens of thousands of people during the Second World War. When shipbuilding faded, much of the land sat idle or was turned to other industrial uses. The stadium, office buildings and new riverside development now occupy parts of it. Each wave of change has involved tearing out old electrical systems and installing new ones, and each has left reels behind.

Waste-to-energy and power generation

Large energy plants on the Chester and Delaware County riverfront run maintenance outages, replace transformers, rewire control rooms and upgrade emission monitoring. That work produces heavy-duty reels: medium-voltage and control cable on large timber or steel drums, many returnable to the cable maker. Plant contractors who release one-way drums after an outage can have them gone within days, freeing up laydown space.

Neighbourhood rebuilding

Community groups, housing nonprofits and developers have been rehabilitating homes across the city. Rehab crews use new service entrance cable, panels and branch wiring in nearly every house, so a programme renovating a dozen homes can leave a garage full of plywood spools. We are happy to collect from community land trusts, church groups and nonprofit builders.

Highway noise and safe loading

Loading beside I-95 or PA 291 is loud and fast. Our crews use cones, wear high-visibility clothing and park clear of travel lanes. If your property's only access is from a busy road, tell us so we can bring a smaller truck and pick a quiet time.

Sorting mixed piles

Old yards often mix cable drums with pipe, pallets, tyres and scrap. We take reels, spools and lagging only, so sort them out first, or point them out clearly when we arrive.

Questions

Do you cover Upland, Brookhaven and Chester Township?

Yes, along with Marcus Hook, Trainer and the rest of the riverfront.

Can you collect on a stadium event day?

We avoid them if we can; traffic near the bridge is heavy. Pick another day if possible.