RBMN/RDG 1855 Peacock's Lock Bridge over Schuylkill River near Tuckerton, PA

(Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; no Historic Bridges; Bridge Hunter; HAER; 3D Satellite)

RDG = Reading Railroad

RBMN = Reading Blue Mountain and Northern

HAER PA,6-READ.V,2--8 (CT)
8. ELEVATION VIEW, LOOKING EAST, WITH TRAIN ON BRIDGE. - Philadelphia & Reading Railroad, Peacock's Lock Viaduct, Spanning Schuykill River at Reading Railroad, Reading, Berks County, PA

HAER PA,6-READ.V,2--2
2. 3/4 VIEW OF EAST ELEVATION, LOOKING NW.

I Love Trains posted

photo courtesy of Bob Krug -

Photo by Bob Krug. Reading Blue Mountain & Northern Santa train crossing the Schuylkill River on Peacock's Lock Bridge. The stone arch bridge incorporated pierced spandrels, uncommon in North America. Steam Locomotive 425; 4-6-2 wheel arrangement built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works.

Tim Shanahan shared

The above photo shows the rough stone piers on which the arches were built. These arches replaced the 1839 wooden trusses. The circular openings are called oculi and they reduce the weight that the foundations have to support. Gustavus Nicolls was the Philadelphia & Reading Superintendent. He first proposed replacing the troublesome wood bridge in 1848, submitted a sketch for a replacement in 1852 and got the directors approval in 1853. [ReadingEagle, HAER-data]

Significance: The Peacock's Lock Viaduct, named after a nearby lock on the Schuylkill Division Canal, may be the only masonry arch bridge in the U.S. with pierced spandrels. The circular openings between arches lighten the structure in both weight and appearance. [HAER]

Several of the nine arches are over the land north of the river, but they are hidden by the trees in the satellite image.

HAER PA,6-READ.V,2--1

1. OVERVIEW, LOOKING WEST. - Philadelphia & Reading Railroad, Peacock's Lock Viaduct, Spanning Schuykill River at Reading Railroad, Reading, Berks County, PA

As with many railroad viaducts, it is hard to capture the size of the viaduct in a photo, especially in an area with a lot of trees.

"Nicolls' design for the Peacock's Lock Viaduct included nine semi-circular arch spans of rough-cut ashlar, each 64'-0" [19.5m] long, on rock-faced ashlar piers." [HAER_data]

Gavin VanSant, May 2023

Photo by Raymond Klein via BridgeHutner
BridgeHunter also has several detail photos by Raymond

Rich Taylor posted
RDC 9151 or 9152 comes east, probably from Pottsville, across Peacock Lock bridge over the Schuylkill River at Tuckerton; my photo 1/10/76.

A comment on ArchivedBridgeHunter mentioned a similar bridge over Washington Road and a creek. I don't know why HistoricBridges doesn't have an entry for the Schuylkill River Viaduct, but it does have an entry for the Washington Road Bridge.

Historic Bridges
"This is an extremely rare example of a stone arch bridge with pierced circular openings. The design is more often found in Europe and the United Kingdom, but is almost unheard of in America."

Street View, Apr 2025

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This Little Peacock Bridge served as a prototype for the one over the Schuylkill Valley.

Street View

Peacock Lock was a double-chamber lock, numbers 39 and 40 on the Schuylkill Canal, on the north side and downstream (West) from the bridge. But I have not been able to find the ruins. Are they covered by the tree canopy?