Fallen bridge to lure tourists

Associated Press

MOUNT JEWETT, Pa.

Officials in northwestern Pennsylvania say they hope a new observation deck and walkway under construction at a historic railroad bridge toppled by a tornado 71/2 years ago will lure visitors to the area again.

The deck and walkway are being built atop six of the support towers left standing when the Kinzua Viaduct, an engineering marvel that once was the tallest and largest railroad bridge in the world, came crashing to earth July 21, 2003.

Visitors, who have been scarce lately, will be able to look out over the Kinzua Gorge in McKean County at three more viaduct towers still standing, or peer through a window in the deck floor at the remains of the bridge scattered up to 300 feet below.

Linda Devlin, executive director of the Bradford-based Allegheny National Forest Visitors Bureau, said the $4.5 million project will help visitors get an idea of the scope of the bridge and the forces that brought it down.

“The center towers of the viaduct were as high as the Statue of Liberty. When you see them on the valley floor, you really get the perspective of how huge, how massive, and how much of a marvel they are. The fact that wind could shear those off and twist them like dishrags is absolutely amazing,” she told the Erie Times-News.

Terry Brady, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, which is overseeing the skywalk project, said visitors also will be able to see the environmental damage caused by the tornado.

“Looking across the valley from where this observation deck will be, there’s a whole mountainside where, like dominoes, every tree went down in the same way. It’s an impressive sight,” Brady said.

Devlin said visitors initially flocked to seek the fallen bridge, but tourism has taken a big hit since. While the viaduct used to attract 160,000 to 180,000 visitors each year, the number has plunged to about 20,000 a year, she said. The Allegheny National Forest Visitors Bureau says that means about $3 million fewer tourist dollars annually.

“The effect on local businesses has been dramatic,” Devlin said. “America’s First Christmas Store [in Smethport] closed, a variety of small bed-and-breakfasts closed, and a lot of retail shops that depended on the bus tours that came through also closed. It’s been a very big blow to towns like Mount Jewett.”

Officials hope to have the skywalk and observation deck open by fall. A new visitors center and a trail down into the gorge to the fallen bridge also are planned, but officials do not know when there will be money for that, Brady said.

The viaduct, built in 1882 for the New York, Lake Erie and Western Railroad and Coal Co., rose 301 feet and extended for almost a half-mile over the Kinzua Gorge. The bridge was rebuilt in 1900 to accommodate bigger and heavier trains and was used by freight traffic until 1959.

Excursion trains continued to use the bridge until 2002, when it was closed to both rail and foot traffic after rusted sections of the structure were found. A $12 million project to restore the deteriorating viaduct began a year later, but the work ended after a tornado ripped 11 of 20 bridge support towers from their bases.