NICHOLSON, Pennsylvania, United States--Measuring 2,375 feet (724 m) long and towering 240 feet (73.15 m) when measured from the creek bed (300 feet (91.44 m) from bedrock),
The Tunkhannock Creek Viaduct (also known as the
Nicholson Bridge and the
Tunkhannock Viaduct) is a concrete deck arch bridge on the Nicholson Cutoff rail segment of the Norfolk Southern Railway Sunbury Line that spans Tunkhannock Creek in Nicholson, Pennsylvania, in the United States, which sets the world record for being the
World's largest concrete railroad bridge, according to the WORLD RECORD ACADEMY.
"Measuring 2,375 feet (724 m) long and towering 240 feet (73.15 m) when measured from the creek bed (300 feet (91.44 m) from bedrock), it was the largest concrete structure in the world when completed in 1915, the "Erie-Lackawanna Railroad, Tunkhannock Viaduct, Nicholson, Wyoming County, PA" reports.
Built by the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (DL&W), the World's largest concrete railroad bridge is owned today by Norfolk Southern Railway and is used daily for regular through freight service.
The DL&W built the viaduct as part of its 39.6-mile (63.7 km) Nicholson Cutoff, which replaced a winding and hilly section of the route between Scranton, Pennsylvania, and Binghamton, New York, saving 3.6 miles (5.8 km), 21 minutes of passenger train time, and one hour of freight train time.
The World's largest concrete railroad bridge was designed by the DL&W's Abraham Burton Cohen; other key DL&W staff were G. J. Ray, chief engineer; F. L. Wheaton, engineer of construction; and C. W. Simpson, resident engineer in charge of the construction. The contractor was Flickwir & Bush, including general manager F. M. Talbot and superintendent W. C. Ritner.
Almost half of the bulk of the bridge is underground.
At mid-construction, 80,000 cubic yards (61,000 m3) of concrete had gone into its substructures, and it was estimated that construction would require 169,000 cubic yards (129,000 m3) of concrete and 1,140 short tons (1,030 t; 1,020 long tons) of steel.
The steel estimate proved accurate; the bridge ultimately used a bit less concrete than expected: 167,000 cubic yards (128,000 m3),
making the total weight approximately 670,000,000 pounds (300,000,000 kg).
In 1975 the American Society of Civil Engineers or ASCE designated the bridge as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.
ASCE noted that at the time of its construction from 1912 to 1915, it was the largest reinforced concrete railroad bridge ever built.
The bridge was also listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 3, 1977. In 1990, the National Railway Historical Society placed a historical plaque on the structure noting its size as the
world's largest concrete bridge, completing the Summit cut-off project for the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad.
Since 1990, the local community has celebrated the building of the bridge on the second Sunday of September with "Nicholson Bridge Day", a street fair, parade, and other activities. The 100th-anniversary celebration was held in September 2015.
Coordinates: 41°37′20″N 75°46′38″W
Carries: railroad traffic
Crosses: Tunkhannock Creek
Locale: Nicholson, Pennsylvania, U.S
Total length: 2,375 feet (723.9 m)
Longest span: 180 feet (54.9 m) each span
No. of spans: 10 (11 piers)
Clearance below: 240 feet (73.2 m)
Designer: Abraham Burton Cohen
The GUINNESS WORLD RECORD for the longest arch bridge is the Pingnan Third Bridge, a road crossing which spans the Xunjiang river near Pingnan in Guangxi, China. The bridge, which was opened for traffic on 28 December 2020, has a main span of 575 m (1,886 ft), and an overall length of 1,035 m (3,395 ft).
GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS also recognized the world record for the longest covered bridge; it is the Hartland Covered Bridge, a seven-span wooden truss bridge which spans the Saint John River in Hartland, New Brunswick, Canada. The bridge, which was constructed in 1901, measures 391 m (1,282 ft) from one bank to the other.
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