The present Rockville Bridge is 106 years old this year. The bridge was the Pennsylvania Railroad crossing of the Susquehanna just north of Harrisburg on an alignment to use the "middle route" from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh.
The third of three crossings at this location, the present bridge was completed March 30, 1902 by Drake & Stratton on the east end and H.S. Kerbaugh on the west.
The present bridge has 48 spans, each 70 feet long. Total length is 3,820 feet, the longest stone masonry arch railroad bridge in the world!! Width is 52 feet built for 4 track.The bridge is 46 feet above the normal river level.
In August 1997 pier 19 gave way and dumped 4 loads of coal in the river. If you look close you can see the repaired pier.
Six highwater marks are painted on the east abutment of the current Rockville Bridge. Two of these marks were before the present bridge was built, but perhaps the predecessor bridge shared this abutment.
The top mark is the infamous Hurricane Agnes of June 1972, when the Susquehanna hit an all time high of 32.57 feet, 15 feet over flood stage. The Rockville Bridge stood, but all around the region rail lines were being wiped out, some never to be rebuilt. The Rockville Bridge withstood all floods, but the first wooden bridge was partially destroyed by a tornado.
These are what's left of the second bridge's piers.
From The Pennsylvania Railroad, A Pictorial History by E.P. Alexander, photos presumed to be from the Pennsylvania Railroad archives.
The bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975, and on the National Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks in 1979.
