Conestoga Creek Viaduct

Conestoga Creek Viaduct
Coordinates 40°03′00″N 76°16′41″W / 40.05000°N 76.27806°W / 40.05000; -76.27806Coordinates: 40°03′00″N 76°16′41″W / 40.05000°N 76.27806°W / 40.05000; -76.27806
Carries Amtrak Keystone Service
Crosses Conestoga River and PA 23 (East Walnut Street)
Locale Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA
Characteristics
Design Arch bridge
Material Stone
Total length 330 feet (100 m)
Width two tracks
Longest span 55 feet (17 m)
Number of spans 5
Piers in water 3
History
Construction begin 1887
Construction end 1888
Conestoga Creek Viaduct
Location in Pennsylvania

The Conestoga Creek Viaduct spans the Conestoga River east of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The present structure, built in 1887-88, is a five-span, two-track stone arch railroad bridge. The first crossing at this location was a 1,412 feet (430 m) series of 11 wooden Town lattice trusses constructed in 1829 for the Columbia and Philadelphia Railroad, which was purchased by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) and incorporated into its main line in 1857.[1] PRR shortened the viaduct and replaced the remaining wooden trusses with iron Whipple trusses in 1863. The 1887-88 stone arch replacement was originally intended to be four tracks wide, but only half of the superstructure width (two tracks) was constructed, leaving an unfinished spandrel wall on the southern face. Tie rods were added in 1930 to brace the spandrel walls.[2]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Zimmerman, Albright (1984). "The Columbia and Philadelphia Railroad: A Railroad with an Identity Problem". Canal History and Technology Proceedings. 3: 62–63.
  2. ↑ Spivey, Justin M. (April 2000). "Pennsylvania Railroad, Conestoga Creek Viaduct" (PDF). Historic American Engineering Record. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress. p. 3. Retrieved February 1, 2014.


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