Kinzua Viaduct
This is an image set within the Bridgemeister collection.
| Bridge: | Kinzua Viaduct |
| Location: | Mt. Jewett, Pennsylvania, USA - Kinzua Creek |
| Coordinates: | 41.762681 N 78.589052 W |
| Maps: | Acme, GeoHack, Google, OpenStreetMap |
| Image Set Contributor: | David Denenberg |
| Date of Images: | May 1999 |
| Related Image Lists: | All from David Denenberg All in Pennsylvania All in USA All Viaducts |
| Credit: | All photos by David Denenberg, please do not reuse without permission. |
Much of the historic Kinzua Viaduct collapsed July 21, 2003 during a windstorm. It had already been closed to pedestrians and scheduled for rehabilitation because of concerns about its ability to withstand strong winds.
The photos below are from a May 1999 visit. It is difficult to convey the enormous size of the bridge without seeing a train or people for context. I ventured out to Kinzua Bridge State Park early in the morning when there were few visitors and none brave enough to cross the 300-foot tall structure. Walking the bridge end-to-end, I quickly noticed the wooden floorboards were spaced far enough apart so that you can easily see the ground below.
This is not the original Kinzua Viaduct. The original, completed in 1882, was an iron structure often described as "spindly". It was replaced in 1900 by the bridge pictured here.
