1904-06 bridge between Havre de Grace and Perryville, MD. Engineering studies are under way for a replacement. [Bridge Hunter]
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| LC-DIG-highsm- 51631 (ONLINE) [P&P] Credit line: West Virginia Collection within the Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. The Susquehanna River Bridge in Havre De Grace, Maryland opened on May 29, 1906 and includes a center swing span to increase vertical clearance for water traffic from the nominal 52 feet. |
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| LC-DIG-highsm- 51632 (ONLINE) [P&P] Credit line: West Virginia Collection within the Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. |
Marty Bernard posted two photos with the comments on the photos.
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| a Amtrak over the Susquehanna River Sept. 1971, no caption. Bill Howes photo, Reid Adams collection |
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| b Amtrak northbound, Susquehanna River bridge, Perryville, MD slide says June 1973. Bill Howes photo, Reid Adams collection |
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| Darren Reynolds posted This postcard view from Havre de Grace Maryland in1910 shows the B&O bridge Crossing the Susquehanna River. And there's a tower if anybody's has information it will be appreciated.. Bob McLean: That is the first B&O Susquehanna River Bridge which was replaced 1907-10 and probably the first alignment on the HdG side. The bridge's trusses are deeper and lighter duty looking. This postcard might have been behind the times by a couple of years. There were at least two alignments between the bridge over 155 and the Susquehanna River Bridge, and the cut out for the earlier alignment is still there. The terrain in this area is very steep and the cuts rather deep. If you look carefully at the the 155 crossing bridge you can see evidence of another nearby alignment that ran slightly closer (but not too far) toward Havre de Grace. Kennard Wing: The way that tower is embedded in the bank looks like something a model railroader with no space for scenery would dream up. Totally "unrealistic!" Darren Reynolds posted B&Os "Havre de Grace" tower, Maryland 1910 That's Susquehanna river bridge in the background. |
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| Bob McLean commented on his comment 1900 USGS (1923 edition) vs 1942 (1942 edition) |
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| Kathleen Ann Lee-Liedtke posted A marvelous 1915 aerial photo of the now Amtrak Railroad Bridge(then the Pennsylvania Railroad) and the old railroad bridge( to the right) that was turned into a toll bridge for automobiles and pedestrians. This narrow old bridge was turned into a double-decker bridge in the 1920's. David Speicher Sr. shared Rob Nichols: And now the two new high level double track bridges will be going where the older bridge was in the photo above. https://media.amtrak.com/.../amtrak-awards-three.../ |
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| 2005 Photo by Jann Mayer, License: Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) Taken from Havre de Grace. Piers for old bridge on the right. |
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| 2005 Photo by Jann Mayer, License: Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) Swing span |
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| Bridges Now and Then posted A 1978 look at the CSX Susquehanna River Bridge, linking Perryville, Maryland and Havre de Grace, Maryland. It was built by the Baltimore and Philadelphia Railroad, a subsidiary of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, in 1908. The Thomas J. Hatem Memorial Bridge carrying US 40 can be seen to the right. (Jack Boucher) |
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| Jack Stoner posted Oh, that frigid winter of 2015, 2/22/15, an eastbound CSX freight crosses a frozen Susquehanna River at Perryville, MD. The 6109 foot, 1910 vintage bridge was the longest on the B&O system and the second on this site replacing the less sturdy 1884 structure. Wayne Spyker: Considering the ice is a mixture of the Chesapeake Bay estury's brackish water it is cold in Havre de Grace. Roger Riblett shared |
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| Tim Cronin posted May 14, 1977 near Havre de Grace MD. Westbound on the Susquehanna River Bridge. (My Kodachrome) J.B. Rail Photog shared |
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| Jack Stoner posted An Amtrak Acela train set crosses the 1906 vintage, (PRR) Susquehanna River Bridge between Havre de Grace, MD, on the south, and Perryville, MD, north side. Speed limit on the 1453 foot bridge is 90mph passenger, 30mph freight. Weekdays see close to 100 movements with Amtrak, MARC, and Norfolk Southern freight over a 24 hour period. Weekends are traditionally slow with mostly the long distance trains plying the rails here. Photo 3/5/17. |
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| Chris Ness posted P.R.R. Bridge at Havre de Grace, Maryland A reminder that ships were built and sailors embarked at Port Deposit, a mile up the Susquehanna River. From here south, it is the Chesapeake Bay. Behind, the US Route 40 bridge is visible. And further up is the old Baltimore and Ohio mainline to Philadelphia and over the Reading and Jersey Central railroads, the path to Hoboken, NJ and the ferry to New York City. (As usual best viewed at full size. So click on it.) |
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| M'ke Helbing shared a Metrotrails photo View of the railroad bridge over the Susquehanna at the mouth of the Chesepeake, looking from Perryville to Havre de Grace, Maryland along Mason Dixon Trail. |
Four of the nine photos posted by Wayne Ciampaglia with the comment: "Amtrak Acela races across the Susquehanna River into Havre de Grace, MD 3-3-17"
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| a [Note that the trusses are pin connected.] |
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| b |
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| c |
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| d |
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| Penny Polakoff Photography posted "Susquehanna Railroad Bridge" - When I head to Virginia, I always see a few bridges as I travel down 95. I marvel at their beauty. On Thursday the clouds were exceptional, and I was determined to find one of them to photograph up close. This is known as the Amtrak Susquehanna River Bridge. It carries two tracks of Amtrak's Northeast Corridor line across the Susquehanna River between Havre de Grace and Perryville, Maryland. Willa Orshan Rudzin: Are you shooting in HDR or post processing the HDR? Penny Polakoff: Willa Orshan Rudzin The answer is no to both questions. However, in all of my Sony camera bodies I have a setting called DRO (Dynamic Range Optimizer). This is always set in my camera. This function analyzes the contrast and produces an image with optimal brightness and recovered shadow detail. Hope that helps. Once in a while I do bracket my photos, but I did not do it for this photo. |
MDOT received $22 million for preliminary engineering and an environmental impact study to replace the 111-year old (1906), two-track bridge with a high-level, four-track bridge. The finding was "no impact." [Amtrak] The replacement would take 10 years and $1.1 billion. [BaltimoreSun-billion]
(new window) Hopefully passenger trains can go a lot faster over that bridge!
I do hope that the video link remains permanent. The speed of the video is 2x.
This Pennsy bridge is now owned by Amtrak and trains run over it at 90mph. To support that speed, each end of each of the four rails is fastened with bolts through two joint bars and the rail. Also, the centenary wires must be disconnected. And workers have to have foremen watching them work. So it takes 25-30 Amtrak employees for a bridge opening. Not only are employees standing on the edge of each pier end, there are people standing on the edges of the moving span. I wonder if all of them are wearing harnesses and safety ropes. Especially the ones on the moving span. The sailboat had to contact Amtrak at least 24 hours before the needed opening, and, if he wasn't there at the agreed upon time, they would not wait for him. It opens about 3-4 times a year from April to October. They won't open it in the winter because the rail is cold and and it contracts, which puts the joints under stress. Even if they could get the bolts out, they would not be able to get the bolt holes to line up again. Some of the comments are worth quoting verbatim.
Shaun Hagy This bridge will be replaced in the coming years. They are close to the end of the planning phase. It was finished in 1906. I believe that in another 10 years, this bridge will no longer be used.
Walter Dorsett Photography Are they building a new one in its place and demolishing it or building one to the right?
Shaun Hagy I could be wrong on exact details but from what I've heard floating around is that they plan on building a new bridge next to the current one, put the new bridge into service and pull the old one from service and either build a new one in its place or rehab the old one. But they eventually want 4 tracks across the Susquehanna. It's a major bottle neck currently for the Amtrak's passenger trains running up and down the North East Corridor.
Charles V. Heitz Sr. What a lot of people don't know is that every department on the railroad has people on that bridge to open it, electric traction disconnects the catenary wires, maintenance of way removes the rail, bridges and buildings has men in a boat in case someone falls off of the bridge and operates the controls to rotate the bridge, communications and signals ensures that the signals are working before and after the opening and closure, and the repair department has a mechanic in the engine house in case something brakes down if for some reason one of these departments don't show up the opening is canceled ( not a good thing ) these are the people that open the bridge. Also all the above is departments must have a supervised on duty in case of a problem. This is all completed in a very short period of time and if a boat is late arriving to go out or come in they must wait till the next opening as the bridge opens and closes at designated times and can't wait for anyone.
Joyce Goodman I do remember them opening it for the tubes for the tunnel, that were manufactured at Wileys Shipyard. Back in the day, I've seen it open a few times. Once from the river.
Trisha Treml Mike Warner was you up there
Mike Warner Yeah at 2:30 I'm on the right side of the part that swung open. [People commented about workers being on the side. Looking again, I see them when the span is open up by the cabin.]
So the piers I see in the satellite views and below must be remnants of this bridge rather than construction for the new bridge.
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| Amtrak Northbound Acela Express |
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| susrailbridge April 2016 Selected Bridge Type Design: Girder Approach / Arch Main Span |
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| susrailbridge April 2016 |
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| susrailbridge March 2017 |
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| Screenshot, Walter Dorsett Photography |
I do hope that the video link remains permanent. The speed of the video is 2x.
This Pennsy bridge is now owned by Amtrak and trains run over it at 90mph. To support that speed, each end of each of the four rails is fastened with bolts through two joint bars and the rail. Also, the centenary wires must be disconnected. And workers have to have foremen watching them work. So it takes 25-30 Amtrak employees for a bridge opening. Not only are employees standing on the edge of each pier end, there are people standing on the edges of the moving span. I wonder if all of them are wearing harnesses and safety ropes. Especially the ones on the moving span. The sailboat had to contact Amtrak at least 24 hours before the needed opening, and, if he wasn't there at the agreed upon time, they would not wait for him. It opens about 3-4 times a year from April to October. They won't open it in the winter because the rail is cold and and it contracts, which puts the joints under stress. Even if they could get the bolts out, they would not be able to get the bolt holes to line up again. Some of the comments are worth quoting verbatim.
Shaun Hagy This bridge will be replaced in the coming years. They are close to the end of the planning phase. It was finished in 1906. I believe that in another 10 years, this bridge will no longer be used.
Walter Dorsett Photography Are they building a new one in its place and demolishing it or building one to the right?
Shaun Hagy I could be wrong on exact details but from what I've heard floating around is that they plan on building a new bridge next to the current one, put the new bridge into service and pull the old one from service and either build a new one in its place or rehab the old one. But they eventually want 4 tracks across the Susquehanna. It's a major bottle neck currently for the Amtrak's passenger trains running up and down the North East Corridor.
Charles V. Heitz Sr. What a lot of people don't know is that every department on the railroad has people on that bridge to open it, electric traction disconnects the catenary wires, maintenance of way removes the rail, bridges and buildings has men in a boat in case someone falls off of the bridge and operates the controls to rotate the bridge, communications and signals ensures that the signals are working before and after the opening and closure, and the repair department has a mechanic in the engine house in case something brakes down if for some reason one of these departments don't show up the opening is canceled ( not a good thing ) these are the people that open the bridge. Also all the above is departments must have a supervised on duty in case of a problem. This is all completed in a very short period of time and if a boat is late arriving to go out or come in they must wait till the next opening as the bridge opens and closes at designated times and can't wait for anyone.
Joyce Goodman I do remember them opening it for the tubes for the tunnel, that were manufactured at Wileys Shipyard. Back in the day, I've seen it open a few times. Once from the river.
Trisha Treml Mike Warner was you up there
Mike Warner Yeah at 2:30 I'm on the right side of the part that swung open. [People commented about workers being on the side. Looking again, I see them when the span is open up by the cabin.]
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| Marian Argentino commented on the above posting Great video. It just happens a friend of mine sent me a picture that hung in a library somewhere in a Delaware of the original railroad bridge. All we see now are the support structures. |
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| Tim Johnson commented on the above posting |
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| M'ke Helbing shared a Metrotrails photo Havre de Grace, Maryland rail bridge...note the piers of the original bridge over the Susquehanna River immediately in front of the present structure. The first bridge here was 1866, the second 1880. Replaced by current structure. |
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| Jen Gamble posted View from my boat at Perryville, MD of the PRR bridge that is now Amtrak on the NEC. The last I heard the bridge had been welded shut. The bridge on the Bush river was still being opened on weekends. |
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| Metrotrails posted A view of the railroad bridge over the Susquehanna River between Havre De Grace and Perryville MD. The official Mason Dixon Trail says to seek a ride across the bridge between Havre de Grace, Maryland and Perryville, Maryland, but we didn't like that idea one bit. Instead, we chartered a boat to ferry us across to continue our backpacking trip! There are good docks at either side. This is from our ride. M'ke Helbing shared |
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| Worldwide Railfan Productions posted Was lucky to get runs of the old Amtrak Acela's as this day would the last day before switching over to the new train sets made by Alstom. ~drawbar Location: Harve de Grace, Maryland [A comment indicates that the new equipment won't start running. They are just tweaking the schedule.] |
zzz
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| 1 of 8 photos posted by Derek Pentz I got lucky enough to capture this perfectly graffitied up CSX train crossing the Susquehanna River in Havre de Grace, MD on it's way to Philadelphia today on my afternoon hike!! |
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| 1 of 3 photos posted by Derek Pentz Spotted this Norfolk Southern Freight Train on the Northeast Corridor as it crossed the Susquehanna River this Afternoon. If you look closely, it has a cargo of brand-new John Deere Tractors. [Some comments indicate that NS is running more freights on this route.] |
(new window) Includes several different drone views. Considering the size of the work crew (40 workers) needed to unlock and lock it, no wonder it seldom opens. It also takes an hour of track outage for the Northeast Corridor to open the span. It does appear that it has a rather high clearance.
A Norfolk Southern freight using the bridge during off hours.
A long exposure photo so that the passage of an Amtrak train left a streak of light on the bridge by Marc Glucksman.
A video (source) The bridge has just twelve openings a year. $1.7 billion is needed.
A Norfolk Southern freight using the bridge during off hours.
A long exposure photo so that the passage of an Amtrak train left a streak of light on the bridge by Marc Glucksman.
A video (source) The bridge has just twelve openings a year. $1.7 billion is needed.
The replacement bridge is happening.
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| Chesapeake Mermaid posted 🚧 Heads up, anglers and paddlers of the Susquehanna River in Havre de Grace / Perryville area! 🎣🛶 Starting in early Spring 2024, contractors are set to begin demolishing the original 1866 Bridge pilings near the Amtrak RR Bridge. 🌉🔨 Fay Construction will be removing the 10 piers leftover from the 1866 railroad bridge, a process expected to take about a year. This is all part of the project to replace the 1906 Amtrak bridge with a new high-speed train bridge. More about the project here 👉 https://www.amtrak.com/susquehanna-river-rail-bridge-project Aaron Fuller shared |
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| railadvent, Image by Amtrak Amtrak awards contracts for Susquehanna River Rail Bridge replacement "Amtrak will replace the existing two-track movable bridge with two newly-constructed two-track fixed bridges....The Susquehanna River Rail Bridge is the longest moveable bridge on the NEC, and is used by Amtrak, Maryland Area Regional Commuter (MARC) rail and Norfolk Southern, which between then run more than 110 passenger and freight trains each day. Trains have to slow to a speed of 90 mph to cross the bridge, which restricts capacity and reliability." |
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| 0:39 video Susquehanna River Rail Bridge Project The new bridges will reduce trip times and improve reliability for passengers that rely on this critical connection. The Susquehanna River Rail Bridge is a two-track bridge located in the City of Havre de Grace in Harford County, MD, and the Town of Perryville in Cecil County, MD. Built in 1906, the Susquehanna River Bridge is owned by Amtrak. It is used by Amtrak, the Maryland Area Regional Commuter (MARC) rail and Norfolk Southern Railway to carry passenger and freight trains across the Susquehanna River. As the longest moveable bridge on the NEC, the bridge is a critical link and will be replaced with new structures to maintain future rail services across the Susquehanna River. The project is proposed to provide future improvements to capacity, trip time, and safety for commuter, freight, and intercity passenger rail services on the NEC consistent with State and Amtrak plans. The proposed project will also improve the navigation channel for marine users. The Maryland Department of Transportation Maryland Transit Authority (MDOT/MTA) received an award of $22 million through a cooperative agreement between the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and MDOT for the preliminary engineering and National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) phases of the Susquehanna River Rail Bridge Project. The NEPA/EA process was completed in May 2017 with the release of a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI). Preliminary Engineering (30%) has also been completed. In August 2022, the Project received the award of $40 million grant for final design through an additional cooperative agreement between FRA, MDOT/MTA and Amtrak. |
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| railadvent, Image by Amtrak |
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| 3:11 video Amtrak workers preparing for the Susquehanna river bridge opening on 5-8-2024. [Why so many workers? A union worker for each bolt? Actually, I'm guessing it was a training session because I didn't see a ship coming.] |
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