Kinzua Bridge State Park
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Kinzua Bridge State Park is located near Mount Jewett, McKean County, Pennsylvania. This 329 acre (1.3 km²) park lies between U.S. Route 6 and Pennsylvania Route 59, just east of the Allegheny National Forest. The park is noted as the home of the Kinzua Viaduct, spanning Kinzua Creek, built in 1882 and destroyed in 2003 by a tornado. At the time it was built, the Kinzua Bridge was the highest, at 301 feet (92 m), and longest, at 2,053 feet (626 m), railway bridge in the world, given the distinction of being listed as a Historic Civil Engineering Landmark. The Bradford, Bordell & Kinzua Railroad company operated lines on the bridge.
Excursion rail trips were offered across the bridge until June, 2002, when it was closed for restoration. At approximately 3:20 p.m., July 21, 2003, a tornado from the east touched down at the park. The storm, classified as F-1 on the Fujita scale, tore down 23 of the 41 structure spans and nearby trees were snapped and uprooted. The failure was caused by badly rusted bolts holding the bases of the towers. The investigation reckoned that the whole structure oscillated laterally 4-5 times before fatigue broke the base bolts.
[edit] External links
- [1]Happenings in the Hills, devoted to preserving and sharing the history of the counties of McKean and Potter in PA, and Allegany and Cattaraugus in NY.
- [2] Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and National Resources page on Kinzua State Park
- [3]DNCR report on the collapse of the Kinzua Viaduct
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