Thursday, July 31, 2008

The Rockville Bridge....

This post is a little different for me, but I'll give it a try. This is for you Fish Whisperer.




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.

Skywatch Friday

These are some photo's I took back in the 80's with a Cannon film slr. The sky has been pretty bland around here lately, so I scaned these for this weeks photo's.







These are from a cross country flight from North Carolina to Maine....



Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Down by the river IV







Here's a few bird in flight photo's....

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

How bout some crawdads ya'll....







It was quite commical watching it try to catch breakfast this morning....

Monday, July 28, 2008

Down by the river III...








Afew more from the river....

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Friday, July 25, 2008

Birds in flight...







A few shots from last evening....

Thursday, July 24, 2008

SKYWATCH FRIDAY...














This weeks SWF is the moon at midnight....

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Down by the river II......







Here's a few more from the Fort Hunter area.....

Monday, July 21, 2008

Down by the river....







These are a few shots from this morning at Fort Hunter...

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Return from Cyber Oblivion...







I thought I lost these to cyber oblivion the day after I took them, but I found them and since I haven't got to take any new photo's this week I figured I'd just share these....

Saturday, July 19, 2008

More from Wildwood Lake







A few lillypads and flowers from the Wildwood Lake area

Friday, July 18, 2008

Feathered friends...







Afew feathered friends from around the house...

Thursday, July 17, 2008

SKYWATCH...





 

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