When it was constructed in 1882, the Kinzua Viaduct was the highest railroad bridge in the world. A local tourist train used to cross it until 2003, when it was struck by a rare tornado. This was all that remained of it for years. In fact, I visited the park some years ago and didn't exactly love the place.
But in recent times, the half-collapsed bridge has been turned into a skywalk! That's to say, the portion that remains standing is open to the public.
I no longer enjoy heights, but here is a view of the valley floor from over the railing. About nine years ago, before hiking trails had been put in and the skywalk built, I hiked that valley floor. It was still illegal back then.
But now there are good trails all the way down to the Kinzua Creek, which is pronounced "KIN-zoo." You can even wander around amid the twisted metal wreckage of this once-great bridge.
And here are the fallen bridge supports as seen from the observation deck at the end of the skywalk.
So...look at the light coming through the deck at the very end of the bridge. That's a glass floor that people actually stand on. My wife made me stand there for a few seconds to get my picture taken, and I nearly retched with fear.
A native of Erie, I was living in Philadelphia when the F4 tornado destroyed the viaduct ......
ReplyDelete..... while back home on vacation a friend told me of the destruction.
"We couldn't possibly be talking of the same bridge, this one was indestructible "
A special detour on the way home proved my friend correct, with a pit in my stomach I viewed the fatal wreckage.
For days I felt the grief of loosing a "Best Friend". I still sometime get moist in the corner of one eye when I remember that day.
How many "others" had previously I taken there to share my wonderment?
Personally I'm not fond of the symbolism of the new Skywalk , nothing can commemorate what once was ......
..... not even the brand new visitor center opened in 2017.
Rest in Peace.
I was skeptical, however; the new visitor center is extreme Ely well done. A perfect intera tive blend of the bridge, local history and nature.
ReplyDeleteIf there is ever hope of rebuilding the bridge this just might be the beginning.
It was just a lowly EF1 twister....thats how badly deteriorated the structure was. We had a number of them that day, I got caught in one on my way to Knox while on rt 322, it rolled a large maple tree across the road in front of us like a tumbleweed. Im in a more remote area and lost power for 8 days. Since I had a genset I was able to actually work from home (internet and phone lines remained up), but I had to drive almost 30 miles to get gas!
ReplyDeleteThis last year the POCO hired crews to clear the line right of ways with extreme prejudice, but they left everything long. It has not been since the 90s that we have had warm dry summers and droughts, in fact 4 of the last 5 years are record rain amounts up there, but this is cyclical. The downfall they left is perfect fuel so now the residents that are left (3/4s of the homes are vacant or camps) are starting a clearing campaign as we are getting awfully 'california like' in t he brush