UPDATE: PA-NJ bridge closures aren’t happening just yet

UPDATE at 11 p.m. on Nov. 12: The planned journey for the SSUS has been delayed and will no longer begin on Nov. 15. Officials are monitoring a tropical disturbance in the Gulf of Mexico that would have the potential to impede the ship's passage. A new date has not been set.

A couple of bridges linking Pennsylvania and New Jersey are expected to shut down as America's Flagship travels from Philadelphia to Alabama.

The SS United States, which is currently docked at Pier 82 in south Philadelphia, will eventually become the world's largest artificial reef.

The historic ship just needs to get down south first, and that requires a journey that's scheduled to begin on Thursday.

On Friday morning, tub boats will be maneuvering the SSUS into the Delaware River, according to officials. According to a press release out of Destin, Florida, the Walt Whitman Bridge and Commodore Barry Bridge "will close" on Friday as the ship is towed down the river into Delaware Bay.

SEE ALSO: Road deaths on the rise in New Jersey

But, according to Asbury Park Press, there are no plans to fully close the bridges — traffic may just be stopped briefly. New Jersey has reached out to the Delaware River Port Authority, which handles the bridges, for clarification.

The Delaware Memorial Bridge will not close to traffic for the ship's journey, according to the Delaware River and Bay Authority. The SSUS will have at least 30 feet of clearance underneath the spans.

After about two weeks, the ship is scheduled to reach Mobile, Alabama, where contractors will begin transitioning the ship into an artificial reef. That process could take a year.

It's not yet certain where in the Gulf of Mexico the vessel will be deployed. The location is expected to be about 20 miles south of the Florida panhandle.

The SSUS was hailed in the 1950s as America's greatest ocean liner.

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