Young's High Bridge is a former railroad bridge near Tyrone,

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

, USA, that spans the

Kentucky River The Kentucky River is a tributary of the Ohio River in Kentucky, United States. The river and its tributaries drain much of eastern and central Kentucky, passing through the Eastern Coalfield, the Cumberland Mountains, and the Bluegrass re ...

between

Anderson County, Kentucky Anderson County, located in the Outer Bluegrass physiographic region, is Kentucky's 48th most populated and ninth fastest-growing county. Anderson County's estimated population as of July 1, 2022, is 24,224, a 1.6% increase from April 1, 20 ...

and

Woodford County, Kentucky Woodford County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 26,871. Its county seat is Versailles, Kentucky, Versailles. The area was home to Pi ...

for the Louisville Southern Railroad. The

cantilever bridge A cantilever bridge is a bridge built using structures that project horizontally into space, supported on only one end (called cantilevers). For small footbridges, the cantilevers may be simple beam (structure), beams; however, large cantilever ...

, named in honor of William Bennett Henderson Young, was constructed in 1889, and the first train crossed over on August 24, 1889. The bridge is 1,659 feet in length, is 283 feet above the river, and includes a 551 foot long cantilever span. The bridge formerly carried traffic on the Lexington to Lawrenceburg Division of the Southern Railway. The last passenger train crossed the bridge on December 27, 1937. It remained in use for freight traffic, which had dwindled by the late 1970s, and the last train to cross the bridge was in November 1985, after which the line was abandoned by the

Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company was formed in 1982 with the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. The comp ...

. It is a contributing structure in the Lexington Extension of the Louisville Southern Railroad, which is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. In February 2013, the bridge was sold to Young's Bridge Partners LLC, who operates a bungee jumping platform on the bridge on behalf of Vertigo Bungee.Old Kentucky River railroad bridge will become bungee-jumping platform
dated 02/24/2013 An adjacent section of the railway line is owned by Bluegrass Railroad and Museum, which runs excursion trains to the eastern end of the bridge.

References

Bridges completed in 1889 Buildings and structures in Anderson County, Kentucky Buildings and structures in Woodford County, Kentucky Railroad bridges in Kentucky Bridges over the Kentucky River Viaducts in the United States Cantilever bridges in the United States 1889 establishments in Kentucky Transportation in Anderson County, Kentucky Transportation in Woodford County, Kentucky {{Kentucky-bridge-struct-stub

See also

Further reading

References