Glade Creek (New River)

Glade Creek
River
Waterfalls along Glade Creek
Country United States
State West Virginia
Counties Raleigh
Source Flat Top Mountain [1]
 - location Raleigh County, WV
 - elevation 3,271 ft (997 m) [2]
 - coordinates
Mouth New River [1]
 - location Raleigh County, WV
 - elevation 1,207 ft (368 m)
 - coordinates

Glade Creek is a major tributary of the New River in Raleigh County, West Virginia. Glade Creek lies within the largest side valley off New River in the New River Gorge National River area.

Contents

Source

Glade Creek is formed on Flat Top Mountain just north of the point where Raleigh, Summers and Mercer counties intersect. Just north of its source near Ghent, it is impounded to form Flat Top Lake. Further north, it is again impounded to form Glade Creek Reservoir.

Canyon

Immediately north of Glade Creek Reservoir, Glade Creek begins its canyon section. The canyon varies from about 200 feet (61 m) in depth at its upstream end to over 1,200 feet (370 m) deep near its mouth at the New River southeast of Prince.

Much of the lower canyon is traversed by an abandoned railroad bed. Today, this former railbed is now maintained as a hiking trail by New River Gorge National River.

Phil G. McDonald Memorial Bridge

Location:

Approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) upstream of its mouth, Glade Creek is crossed by Interstate 64 on the Phil G. McDonald Memorial Bridge, also known as the Glade Creek Bridge. This 2,179-foot (664 m) long deck truss bridge[3] towers 700 feet (210 m) above the creek bed,[4][5] making it the highest Interstate bridge in the United States.

References

  1. ^ a b "Glade Creek". Geographic Names Information System, U.S. Geological Survey. 1980-06-27. http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=gnispq:3:::NO::P3_FID:1539421. Retrieved 2008-09-13. 
  2. ^ "Glade Creek Source". Elevation Query. U.S. Geological Survey. http://gisdata.usgs.gov/xmlwebservices2/elevation_service.asmx/getElevation?X_Value=-81.0948166&Y_Value=37.5903952&Elevation_Units=FEET&Source_Layer=-1&Elevation_Only=FALSE. Retrieved 2008-09-13. 
  3. ^ "American Bridge - Glade Creek Bridge". American Bridge Company. http://www.americanbridge.net/index.php?Itemid=78&id=188&option=com_content&task=view. Retrieved 2008-09-14. 
  4. ^ "Phil G. McDonald Memorial Bridge Inspection Report" (PDF). West Virginia Division of Highways. September 24, 2004. Archived from the original on June 5, 2010. http://www.webcitation.org/5qH4jq3CJ. Retrieved June 5, 2010. 
  5. ^ "Phil G. McDonald Bridge". Highest Bridges.com. http://www.highestbridges.com/wiki/index.php?title=Phil_G_McDonald_Bridge. Retrieved June 5, 2010.