Railway Bridges of 1882

In this essay I will look the style, construction, function and significance of two rail bridges that went into construction in 1882. One made of iron and one made of steel.

The first bridge I will discuss is the Kinzua Viaduct in Kushequa, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. In the nineteenth century, the vast forests of northern Pennsylvania were supplying millions of board feet of timber to feed local industry, such as chemical plants and tanneries.

The second bridge I will talk about is the Forth Railway Bridge, across Scotland’s Firth of Forth. It was long felt that a rail link between Edinburgh and Dundee was needed. The first solution proposed to connect both shores was a tunnel. After many studies, and failures of other tunnel projects throughout the country, this approach was abandoned. In 1806 the idea of building a bridge was put forward. Over the coming years many bridge designs were presented. In 1818 a bridge design by James Anderson was considered, but it was then deemed to light a structure to cope with the volume of traffic that would be crossing. It wasn’t until 1865 that a parliament resolution authorised the engineer Thomas Boach to bridge the Forth. Bough was the head engineer of the North British Railway, and had designed the nearby Firth of Tay bridge. He planned a suspension bridge with two 480 metre towers. However, disaster struck in 1879, when the Tay bridge collapsed in the wind killing 75 passengers and crew on a crossing train. It was one of the worst bridge disasters in history, and Bough ideas were immediately discarded. If the Forth bridge was still to go ahead, the Scottish public demanded that it be built to an immense factor of safety.

Although both were remarkable accomplishments and wonders of there time, the Firth of Forth Bridge still stands in its original form, while the Kinzua Viaduct was replaced over 100 years ago. This shows how the variables of design and material can greatly influence the effectiveness of a structure . Whereas the Kinzua Viaduct was conceived and built within one year, many years of preparation and construction went into the Forth Bridge. The simple design and flexible construction of the Kinzua Viaduct only led to problems in the long run. Even after being rebuilt in steel, the new bridge suffered greatly from the forces of the wind and the weight of rolling stock.. It was known to sway violently on occasion, and finally collapsed under the power of a hurricane in July of 2003. Unlike the Kinzua Viaduct, the form of the Forth Bridge absorbed the vertical load of trains as well as the horizontal wind pressure without major stress. The Bridge is still free from vibrations and remains one of the strongest and safest bridges in the world. Even though it was one of the most expensive bridges ever built, but it proved to be a very valuable investment.

Once was completed the Kinzua Viaduct was advertised as the eight wonder of the world. And although many deemed it unsightly, people from throughout the United States came to see this engineering marvel. Excursion trains came from Buffalo and Pittsburgh, among other places, offering people the thrill of crossing the viaduct. Some people would try to climb the iron work for a closer look, and often needed to be rescued from the higher girders. During the summer there could have been up to 8 excursion trains a day crossing the valley, with people partying, gambling and drinking. They proved so popular that they quickly raised enough money to offset the building costs of the Viaduct, and they continued up until the United States entered the first world war.

Some topics in this essay:
Buffalo Pittsburgh, Oliver Barnes, Charles Stauffer, Kinzua Viaduct, Firth Tay, Industrial Revolution, Forth Bridge, Bidge Company, Tower Forth, Construction Forth, forth bridge, kinzua viaduct, tay bridge, nineteenth century, western railroad coal, western railroad, railroad coal, lake erie, york lake, construction forth bridge, sir benjamin, railroad coal company, suspension bridge, lake erie western, erie western railroad,