Young's High Bridge, also known as the Jo Blackburn Bridge, is a former railroad bridge near Tyrone,

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

, USA, that spans the

Kentucky River The Kentucky River is a tributary of the Ohio River, long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed June 13, 2011 in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. Commonwealth of Kentuc ...

between

Anderson County, Kentucky Anderson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 23,852. Its county seat is Lawrenceburg. The county was formed in 1827 and named for Richard Clough Anderson Jr., a Kentucky legislat ...

and

Woodford County, Kentucky Woodford County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 26,871. Its county seat is Versailles. The area was home to Pisgah Academy. Woodford County is part of the Lexington-Fayette, KY Metrop ...

for the

Louisville Southern Railroad The Louisville Southern Railroad (abbreviated: LS) was a 19th-century railway company in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It operated from until , when it was incorporated into the Southern Railway in Kentucky. Originally incorporated as the Louisv ...

. 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 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 ...

. 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 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 ...

. In February 2013, the bridge was sold to Young's Bridge Partners LLC, who intends to operate 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 The Bluegrass Railroad and Museum is a railroad museum and heritage railroad in Versailles, Kentucky, United States. Operating out of the Woodford County Park, the Railroad offers 11-mile round trip excursions through the horse farms of Kentuck ...

, 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