Kinzua Viaduct: The Bridge a Tornado Tore Apart, Pennsylvania

In 1882, a railroad needed to cross the Kinzua Creek valley in northwestern Pennsylvania, and building around it would have added miles. Instead, workers built straight across, raising about 1,552 tons of wrought iron into a viaduct 301 feet high and more than 2,000 feet long. It took 94 working days. Promoters called it the “Eighth Wonder of the World,” and for about two years it was the tallest railroad bridge on Earth, until France’s Garabit Viaduct passed it in 1884. As trains got heavier, the iron wasn’t strong enough. In 1900 the bridge was taken down and rebuilt in steel on the same piers. Freight trains crossed it until June 1959, when regular service ended. Pennsylvania bought the bridge in 1963, and the state park opened around it in 1970. Starting in 1987, excursion trains brought sightseers across again. In 2002, inspectors found the structure at risk in high winds, and it was closed. Restoration began in early 2003. On July 21, 2003, before the repairs were done, an F1 tornado swept through the valley. It knocked down 11 of the 20 towers, reportedly in less than 30 seconds. Corroded bolts at the tower bases had weakened the bridge’s hold on the ground. No one was hurt. The state chose to leave the fallen towers where they landed, twisted across the valley floor. In 2011, the remaining towers were turned into the Kinzua Sky Walk, a walkway that ends at a glass-floored lookout over the wreckage, more than 200 feet down.