Bessemer & Lake Erie Railroad Bridge

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Bessemer & Lake Erie Railroad Bridge
B&lerr.jpg
Coordinates 40°32′15″N79°49′15″W / 40.5376°N 79.8209°W / 40.5376; -79.8209 Coordinates: 40°32′15″N79°49′15″W / 40.5376°N 79.8209°W / 40.5376; -79.8209
Carries Canadian National Railway Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad division
Crosses Allegheny River
Locale Plum, Pennsylvania and Harmar Township, Pennsylvania
Characteristics
Design Truss bridge
Total length2,327 feet (709 m)
Longest span520 feet (160 m) [1]
Clearance below 89 feet (27 m)
History
Opened1918
Location
Bessemer & Lake Erie Railroad Bridge

The Bessemer & Lake Erie Railroad Bridge is a truss bridge that carries the Canadian National Railway's Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad division across the Allegheny River between the Pittsburgh suburbs of Plum and Harmar Township, Pennsylvania. In 1897, a single-track trestle and viaduct was built on this site; in 1918, the original piers were doubled in width, the current double-tracked structure built alongside, and then slid into place.[ citation needed ] The original north trestle approach was buried in slag dumped from an adjacent temporary filling trestle. [2]

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References

  1. Movable and Long-Span Steel Bridges 1943
  2. Spivey, Justin M. (April 2000). "Bessemer & Lake Erie Railroad, Allegheny River Bridge" (PDF). Historic American Engineering Record. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 3, 2014. Retrieved February 1, 2014.