Fort Wayne Railroad Bridge

Fort Wayne Railroad Bridge

Center span, from south bank of the Allegheny, looking NW
Coordinates 40°26′53″N 79°59′46″W / 40.4480°N 79.9961°W / 40.4480; -79.9961Coordinates: 40°26′53″N 79°59′46″W / 40.4480°N 79.9961°W / 40.4480; -79.9961
Carries 2 tracks of Norfolk Southern / Amtrak
Official name Bridge No. 1, Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway
Characteristics
Total length 985 feet (300 m) 5 spans
Longest span 319 feet (97 m)
Clearance below deck is 40.9 feet (12.5 m) above Emsworth Dam normal pool level (710 feet (220 m) above sea level)
History
Opened 1901-1904

The Fort Wayne Railroad Bridge, listed as the Pennsylvania Railroad Bridge on the National Register of Historic Places, is a double-deck steel truss railroad bridge spanning the Allegheny River in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The upper deck carries two tracks of Norfolk Southern and Amtrak traffic. The lower deck is unused. The bridge crosses 40 feet (12 m) above the Allegheny and its longest span is 319 feet (97 m).

History

The bridge was built between 1901 and 1904 by American Bridge Company on new piers immediately next to the 1868 bridge it replaced while the old bridge remained in use.[1]

The 1868 bridge was a five-span wrought-iron lattice truss built for the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway with two simple plate girder spans as approach roads at each end.

In 1918 the bridge and associated approaches were raised (as were other neighboring bridges) to increase navigable headroom.

The lower level was used by local freight trains switching in the Downtown area and the Strip District. Its tracks were removed in the 1950s as part of a major track and platform realignment through Pennsylvania Station.[2]

See also

References

  1. ↑ entry "Fort Wayne Railroad Bridge" Check |url= value (help). pghbridges.com. November 3, 2000. Retrieved December 6, 2009.
  2. ↑ Kobus, Ken (1996). The Pennsy in the Steel City: 150 years of the Pennsylvania Railroad in Pittsburgh. Upper Darby, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Railroad Technical and Historical Society. pp. 19–22.
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