(rshsdepot) Kinzua Viaduct, PA

[jdent1_@_optonline.net]

From Gary Kazin on the EL list...

STATE opts against rebuilding toppled historic railroad bridge
WVEC.com (subscription) - Norfolk,VA,USA

State opts against rebuilding toppled historic railroad bridge

03/31/2004
Associated Press

An historic railroad bridge that was once the longest and tallest in the
world and remained the fourth-tallest in the country will not be rebuilt
because the project would be too expensive, state officials said.

In interviews with The Bradford Era, officials with Gov. Ed Rendell's
office and the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources said
the state has opted against attempting to raise the 121-year-old Kinzua
Viaduct, which was mostly toppled by a tornado on July 21.

Rendell spokesman Abe Amoros said the state could not afford the estimated
$45 million to rebuild the bridge, which stretched almost a half-mile and
towered 301 feet above a gorge near the Allegheny National Forest, about
110 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.

Rendell's decision is supported by the state Department of Conservation
and Natural Resources, which owned the Kinzua Viaduct, part of a state
park that bore its name, said spokeswoman Gretchen Leslie.

The Kinzua Viaduct ? 1,552 tons of iron ? was built in 94 days and some
hailed it as the Eighth Wonder of the World. It was rebuilt in steel in
1900 to accommodate heavier trains.

But after more than a century, the aging engineering marvel was ripped
apart in 30 seconds by a tornado with 94 mph winds. According to a report
by state park officials, the tornado and winds were more than the bridge's
111-year-old anchor bolts could withstand; 11 of the bridge's 20
triangle-shaped support towers were ripped from their brick foundations.

No one was injured when the bridge came down, largely because state park
officials had stopped a tourist train that used to chug across the bridge
and then banned pedestrians from walking across it a year earlier.

The concern was that winds whipping through the valley could stress the
structure enough to send parts of it crashing down. State engineers had
speculated that winds topping 80 mph could fell the bridge.

Cement casings around the original brick foundations were dyed orange from
rust, some scarred with cracks and gouges from age. Rust had eaten through
cross members and columns, sapping half of the strength from the bottom of
the bridge and leaving piles of rust flakes a foot thick on the ground.
Heavy loads had bent some of the girders over the years.

The bridge came down just as a construction company was working to
stabilize it for more permanent repairs.

Following the collapse, railroad and bridge enthusiasts held out hope the
money to rebuild the Kinzua Viaduct could come from the Federal Emergency
Management Agency. Federal officials were apparently awaiting word from
Pennsylvania officials before deciding whether to pay for as much as 75
percent of the cost.

Some lamented the apparent loss of the bridge, which hadn't had a freight
train on it since 1959, but remained an important tourist site, drawing as
many as 140,000 people a year.

"That is a shame. That's a piece of history that we hate to lose
altogether," said Bill Kilmer, head of the Kinzua Bridge Foundation, which
was created after the bridge's collapse to raise money for eventual
repairs.

The Kinzua Viaduct is on the National Register of Historic Civil
Engineering Landmarks and National Register of Historic Places.




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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org

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