The Manayunk Bridge (also known as the Manayunk Viaduct, Pencoyd Viaduct, and Schuylkill River Railroad Bridge) is an S-shaped former railroad bridge over the

Schuylkill River The Schuylkill River ( , ) is a river running northwest to southeast in eastern Pennsylvania. The river was improved by navigations into the Schuylkill Canal, and several of its tributaries drain major parts of Pennsylvania's Coal Region. It fl ...

, Schuylkill Canal and

Schuylkill Expressway The Schuylkill Expressway , locally known as "the Schuylkill", is a Controlled-access highway, freeway through southern Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Montgomery County and the city of Philadelphia in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, Philade ...

, that connects

Bala Cynwyd Bala Cynwyd ( ) is a community in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania. It is located on the Philadelphia Main Line in Southeastern Pennsylvania, bordering the western edge of Philadelphia at U.S. Route 1 (City Avenue). It was originally two separ ...

, Montgomery County and the Manayunk neighborhood of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, Pennsylvania. Closed to rail traffic in 1986, it is now an extension of the Cynwyd Heritage Trail (along the river's west bank) and connects to the

Schuylkill River Trail The Schuylkill River Trail ( , ) is a multi-use trail along the banks of the Schuylkill River in southeastern Pennsylvania. Partially complete as of 2018, the trail is ultimately planned to run about from the river's headwaters in Schuylkill Co ...

(along the east bank).

History

Built by the former Schuylkill Valley Division of the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...

, it is a large

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...

open spandrel arch bridge built in an "S curve," earning both the current concrete bridge and its 1883 wrought-iron-truss predecessor the nickname of "S-Bridge." The bridge's challenging geometry was executed by T. L. Eyre, a Philadelphia contractor. Another notable feature is the saw-toothed construction joints along a 65-degree

skew Skew may refer to: In mathematics * Skew lines, neither parallel nor intersecting. * Skew normal distribution, a probability distribution * Skew field or division ring * Skew-Hermitian matrix * Skew lattice * Skew polygon, whose vertices do not ...

. In 1976,

SEPTA The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) is a regional public transportation authority that operates bus, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolleybus services for nearly 4 million people in five coun ...

purchased the bridge for its Ivy Ridge Line (now

Cynwyd Line The Cynwyd Line is a SEPTA Regional Rail line from Center City, Philadelphia, Center City Philadelphia to Cynwyd (SEPTA station), Cynwyd in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Originally known as the Ivy Ridge Line, ...

). Ten years later, after weather-related expansion and contraction of the bridge, and the shedding of pieces of concrete due to

spall Spall are fragments of a material that are broken off a larger solid body. It can be produced by a variety of mechanisms, including as a result of projectile impact, corrosion, weathering, cavitation, or excessive rolling pressure (as in a ball ...

ing, SEPTA closed the bridge on October 25, 1986, truncating service at Cynwyd and suspended service to three of the line's six stations (Ivy Ridge, West Manayunk, and Barmouth). Between 1996 and 1999, the bridge was stabilized and refurbished. The effort determined that the internal steel reinforcement was not compromised, as SEPTA had feared. Further investigation by Urban Engineers determined that the bridge was safe and only needed surface work to stop the spalling. SEPTA has not resumed service to Ivy Ridge; in 1996 low ridership led SEPTA to consider discontinuing service to Cynwyd altogether.

Manayunk Bridge Trail

Walkers on Manayunk Bridge, October 2015

Between 2008 and June 2010, SEPTA removed all of tracks north of Cynwyd for the Cynwyd Heritage Trail and Ivy Ridge Rail Trail.Ivy Ridge Green
/ref> On October 30, 2015, the ribbon was cut on the Manayunk Bridge Trail, a conversion of the bridge for use by people walking and bicycling. Designed by Whitman, Requardt & Associates, LLP, the trail features separate areas for walking and bicycling, along with a shared plaza in the center of the bridge that can be programmed for special events. Railings and fencing are in keeping with the historic industrial nature of the bridge.

References

External links

* {{Crossings navbox , structure = Crossings , place =

, bridge = Manayunk Bridge , bridge signs = , upstream = Green Lane Bridge , upstream signs = , downstream = Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Mule Bridge , downstream signs = Bridges completed in 1918 Bridges in Philadelphia Pennsylvania Railroad bridges Railroad bridges in Pennsylvania Historic American Engineering Record in Philadelphia Bridges over the Schuylkill River Concrete bridges in the United States Northwest Philadelphia Open-spandrel deck arch bridges in the United States 1918 establishments in Pennsylvania

History

Manayunk Bridge Trail

See also

References

Further reading

External links