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Tunkhannock Creek Viaduct (also known as the Nicholson Bridge and the Tunkhannock Viaduct) is a
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 ...
deck arch bridge An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side. A viaduct ( ...
on the
Nicholson Cutoff The Nicholson Cutoff (also known as Clark's Summit-Hallstead Cutoff) is a railroad segment of the Sunbury Line rail line and formerly a railroad segment of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad main line and the Delaware and Hudson Railwa ...
rail segment of the
Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31 ...
Sunbury Line The Sunbury Line (formerly known as Sunbury Subdivision) is a rail line owned and operated by Norfolk Southern Railway which in turn is owned by the Norfolk Southern Corporation. The line travels from Sunbury, Pennsylvania, to Binghamton, New Yo ...
that spans Tunkhannock Creek in
Nicholson Nicholson may refer to: People *Nicholson (name), a surname, and a list of people with the name Places Australia * Nicholson, Victoria * Nicholson, Queensland * Nicholson County, New South Wales * Nicholson River (disambiguation) * Nicholson ...
,
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
. Measuring long and towering when measured from the creek bed ( from bedrock), it was the largest concrete structure in the world when completed in 1915 and still merited "the title of largest concrete bridge in America, if not the world" 50 years later. Built by the
Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (also known as the DL&W or Lackawanna Railroad) was a U.S. Class 1 railroad that connected Buffalo, New York, and Hoboken, New Jersey (and by ferry with New York City), a distance of . Incorporated in ...
(DL&W), the bridge is owned today by Norfolk Southern Railway and is used daily for regular through freight service.Norfolk Southern completes acquisition of Delaware & Hudson South Line
PRNewswire, September 18, 2015
The DL&W built the viaduct as part of its Nicholson Cutoff, which replaced a winding and hilly section of the route between
Scranton, Pennsylvania Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U ...
, and
Binghamton, New York Binghamton () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the conflue ...
, saving , 21 minutes of passenger train time, and one hour of freight train time. The bridge was designed by the DL&W's
Abraham Burton Cohen Abraham Burton Cohen (March 9, 1882 – February 11, 1956) was an American civil engineer notable for his role in designing innovative and record-breaking concrete bridges such as the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad's Tunkhannock Viaduc ...
; other key DL&W staff were G. J. Ray, chief engineer; F. L. Wheaton, engineer of construction; and C. W. Simpson, resident engineer in charge of the construction. The contractor was Flickwir & Bush, including general manager F. M. Talbot and superintendent W. C. Ritner. In 1975 the
American Society of Civil Engineers American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...
or ASCE designated the bridge as a
National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark __NOTOC__ The following is a list of Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks as designated by the American Society of Civil Engineers since it began the program in 1964. The designation is granted to projects, structures, and sites in the United State ...
. ASCE noted that at the time of its construction from 1912 to 1915, it was the largest reinforced concrete railroad bridge ever built. The bridge was also listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
on May 3, 1977.FEDERAL REGISTER, VOL 42, NO. 85-TUESDAY, MAY 3, 1977, page 22411. In 1990, the National Railway Historical Society placed a historical plaque on the structure noting its size as the world's largest concrete bridge, completing the Summit cut-off project for the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad.


History

Construction on the bridge began in May 1912 by excavating all 11 bridge piers to bedrock, which was up to below ground. In total, excavation for the viaduct removed of material, more than half of that rock. Almost half of the bulk of the bridge is underground. At mid-construction, of concrete had gone into its substructures, and it was estimated that construction would require of concrete and of steel. The steel estimate proved accurate; the bridge ultimately used a bit less concrete than expected: , making the total weight approximately . The bridge was dedicated on November 6, 1915, along with the opening of the Nicholson Cutoff. Construction photos along with a short history of the bridge were published by the Nicholson Area Library in a brochure in 1976. It was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
on April 11, 1977. Since 1990, the local community has celebrated the building of the bridge on the second Sunday of September with "Nicholson Bridge Day", a street fair, parade, and other activities. The 100th-anniversary celebration was held in September 2015.


Recognition

In 1975 the
American Society of Civil Engineers American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...
or ASCE designated the bridge as a
National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark __NOTOC__ The following is a list of Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks as designated by the American Society of Civil Engineers since it began the program in 1964. The designation is granted to projects, structures, and sites in the United State ...
.Society for Industrial archeology newsletter, November 1975, Vol. 4, No. 6. ASCE noted that at the time of its construction from 1912 to 1915, it was the largest reinforced concrete railroad bridge ever built.Herbert Hands, ASCE news release dated January 22, 1975 ASCE recognized the bridge as "not only a great feat of construction skill" but also a "bold and successful departure from contemporary, conventional concepts of railroad location in that it carried a mainline transversely to the regional drainage pattern, effectively reducing the distance and grade impediments...". At the time the decision was made to build the bridge out of reinforced concrete, railroad engineers had little experience with this material. The bridge was also listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
on May 3, 1977. In 1990, the National Railway Historical Society placed a historical plaque on the structure noting its size as the world's largest concrete bridge, completing the Summit cut-off project for the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad.


Gallery

Tunkhannock Viaduct under construction 1914.JPG, Tunkhannock Viaduct under construction in 1914 TunkhannockViaductFromAir.jpg, Tunkhannock Viaduct from the air Nicholson-Viaduct.JPG, Tunkhannock Viaduct, as seen from Route 11 Compared to the town.JPG, Viaduct over Nicholson, PA


See also

*
Starrucca Viaduct Starrucca Viaduct is a stone arch bridge that spans Starrucca Creek near Lanesboro, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Completed in 1848 at a cost of $320,000 (equal to $ today), it was at the time the world's largest stone railway viaduct and w ...
* Lackawanna Cut-Off *
List of bridges documented by the Historic American Engineering Record in Pennsylvania __NOTOC__ This is a list of bridges documented by the Historic American Engineering Record in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Bridges See also * List of tunnels documented by the Historic American Engineering Record in Pennsylvania Notes Refe ...
*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Wyoming County, Pennsylvania This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Wyoming County, Pennsylvania. This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Wyoming County, Pennsylva ...


References


Further reading

* *


External links

*
NicholsonBridge.com
enthusiast site about the bridge and its environs *
Tunkhannock Viaduct
Historic Civil landmark at the American Society of Civil Engineers site

takes over ownership of the Tunkhannock Viaduct in 2015.
A Thing Colossal and Impressive
article by Pennsylvania Center for the book with extensive source listing for the structure. {{National Register of Historic Places Open-spandrel deck arch bridges in the United States Railroad bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Bridges completed in 1915 Viaducts in the United States Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks Bridges in Wyoming County, Pennsylvania Historic American Engineering Record in Pennsylvania Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad bridges Pennsylvania state historical marker significations Concrete bridges in Pennsylvania Norfolk Southern Railway bridges National Register of Historic Places in Wyoming County, Pennsylvania