The Kinzua Viaduct

Towers of the Kinzua Viaduct. Image source: Phoenix Bridge Company. Album of Designs of the Phoenix Bridge Company: Successors to Clarke, Reeves & Co., Phoenixville Bridge Works. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1885, pl. 8.

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The Kinzua Viaduct was built to carry coal trains across the Kinzua Creek Valley in western Pennsylvania. It was constructed in just over 100 days in the summer of 1882, and, with a maximum height of 302 feet and a total length of 2,050 feet, it was one of the highest and longest viaducts in the world. It was built by the Phoenix Bridge Company, who featured the bridge in their trade album of 1885. Because of increasing train loads, the entire structure was replaced by a similar but stronger steel viaduct in 1900.

Roadway of the Kinzua Viaduct. Image source: Phoenix Bridge Company. Album of Designs of the Phoenix Bridge Company: Successors to Clarke, Reeves & Co., Phoenixville Bridge Works. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1885, pl. 7.

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