The Coatesville High Bridge is a stone masonry

arch An arch is a curved vertical structure spanning an open space underneath it. Arches may support the load above them, or they may perform a purely decorative role. As a decorative element, the arch dates back to the 4th millennium BC, but stru ...

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide ...

that crosses the valley of the

West Branch Brandywine Creek The West Branch Brandywine Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 tributary of Brandywine Creek in Chester County, Pennsylvania in the United States.Ge ...

Coatesville, Pennsylvania Coatesville is the only city in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 13,350 at the 2020 census. Coatesville is approximately 39 miles west of Philadelphia. It developed along the Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike ...

. Built by the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad ( reporting mark PRR), legal name as 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. At its ...

between 1902 and 1904, it has ten arches (eight of and two of ) and spans a total length of , with wing walls extending it to . high, the bridge was built to accommodate four

standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), international gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the ...

railroad tracks, with a total length of . The Pennsylvania Railroad's Main Line passes along the north side of Coatesville on the southern slope of the North Valley Hills. The bridge carries the Main Line across the

water gap A water gap is a gap that flowing water has carved through a mountain range or mountain ridge and that still carries water today. Such gaps that no longer carry water currents are called wind gaps. Water gaps and wind gaps often offer a pract ...

cut by the Brandywine, as well as the former Wilmington and Northern Branch of the

Reading Railroad The Reading Company ( ) was a Philadelphia-headquartered railroad that provided passenger and freight transport in eastern Pennsylvania and neighboring states from 1924 until its acquisition by Conrail in 1976. Commonly called the Reading Railr ...

and

Pennsylvania Route 82 Pennsylvania Route 82 (PA 82) is a north–south state highway located in Chester County, Pennsylvania, Chester County in southeast Pennsylvania, USA. The southern terminus is at the Delaware state line southeast of Kennett Square, Pennsyl ...

Precursors

The first bridge at the site was built by the

Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad (P&CR) (1834) was one of the earliest commercial railroads in the United States, running from Philadelphia to Columbia, Pennsylvania, Columbia, Pennsylvania, it was built by the Pennsylvania Canal Commission in l ...

in 1832. It was a single-track wood span on stone piers. The bridge was widened to double-track in 1854. This bridge was replaced by a

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content of more than 2% and silicon content around 1–3%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloying elements determine the form in which its car ...

bridge in 1867, and that in turn by a

wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.05%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4.5%), or 0.25 for low carbon "mild" steel. Wrought iron is manufactured by heating and melting high carbon cast iron in an ...

Pratt truss A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss, a structure of connected elements, usually forming triangular units. The connected elements, typically straight, may be stressed from tension, compression, or ...

in 1890. By around the start of the 20th century, however, the double-track bridge was proving to be a bottleneck in the quadruple-track main line on both sides, and plans were made for a bridge that would carry four tracks across the Brandywine Valley.Messer, p. 112

Construction and history

While the PRR had been using

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

bridges since the 1880s, and was constructing others nearby at the time, such as the High Bridge at Downingtown, President A. J. Cassatt decided in favor of a stone bridge at this location and elsewhere. This reflected the influence of PRR Chief Engineer William H. Brown, who rebuilt many of the railroad's bridges in masonry during his tenure. While more expensive than steel, Brown felt that stone bridges were stronger and more durable, and less expensive to maintain in the long term. Work on the bridge began in November 1902, locating it slightly to the south of the double-track bridge. The bridge was completed on 1 September 1904 and the main line was realigned to cross it, abandoning the old bridge. The realignment reduced the curvature in the area and completed the PRR's four-track main line from

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

to the

Conestoga River The Conestoga River (), also referred to as Conestoga Creek (), is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed August 8, 2011 tributary of the Susquehanna River flowing through t ...

bridge near

Lancaster Lancaster may refer to: Lands and titles *The County Palatine of Lancaster, a synonym for Lancashire *Duchy of Lancaster, one of only two British royal duchies *Duke of Lancaster *Earl of Lancaster *House of Lancaster, a British royal dynasty ...

.Messer, p. 113 In later years, a

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an upward extension of a wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/brea ...

was added to the bridge and the tops of some arches were reinforced with concrete. Catenary poles were added to the bridge with

electrification Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. In the context of history of technology and economic development, electrification refe ...

in the 1930s.Messer, p. 115 Ownership of the bridge passed, with the rest of the Main Line, to

Penn Central The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976. Penn Central combined three traditional corporate rivals, the Pennsylvania, New York Central and the ...

in 1968 and

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

in 1976.

Notes

References

* * *{{cite book , title=The Pennsylvania Railroad 1940s–1950s , first=Don , last=Ball Jr. , publisher=Elm Tree Books , year=1986 , isbn=0-393-02357-5 Deck arch bridges in the United States Pennsylvania Railroad bridges Amtrak bridges Bridges completed in 1904 Railroad bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Viaducts in the United States Bridges in Chester County, Pennsylvania Coatesville, Pennsylvania 1904 establishments in Pennsylvania National Register of Historic Places in Chester County, Pennsylvania Brick bridges in the United States