Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, Bridge at West Falls

Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, Bridge at West Falls
Reading Railroad Bridge at West Falls, looking east toward Kelly Drive
Coordinates	40°00′23″N75°11′33″W / 40.00639°N 75.19250°W / 40.00639; -75.19250 (Bridge at West Falls)
Carries	CSX Trenton Subdivision
Crosses	Kelly Drive, Schuylkill River, and Martin Luther King Drive (formerly West River Drive)
Locale	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Characteristics
Design	Arch bridge
Material	Stone
Width	two tracks
Longest span	92.8 feet (28.3 m)
No. of spans	9
Piers in water	6
History
Construction end	1890
Location

The Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, Bridge at West Falls is a stone and iron plate girder bridge that is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It carries two CSX Trenton Subdivision tracks over Kelly Drive, Schuylkill River, and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive (formerly West River Drive).

History and notable features

This was built in 1890 by the Reading Railroad, and forms a "Y" junction with the adjacent Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, Schuylkill River Viaduct (1854). ^{[1] [2] [3]}

The bridge consists of an 80-foot (24 m) stone arch over Kelly Drive and eight plate-girder spans that follow a 6-degree curve.

See also

• List of bridges documented by the Historic American Engineering Record in Pennsylvania
• List of crossings of the Schuylkill River

Gallery

• 
  Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Bridge, West Falls, looking upstream from Kelly Drive

References

1. "The Nolan Brothers: Reading's Great Railroad and Bridge Building Firm." Reading, Pennsylvania: The Daily Times and Dispatch, November 16, 1891, p. 11 (subscription required).
2. "The Great Conewago Bridge." Lancaster, Pennsylvania: The New Era, October 1, 1892, p. 7 (subscription required).
3. "What M'Leod Did for the Reading." Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: The Philadelphia Inquirer, April 30, 1893, p. 7 (subscription required).

External links

• Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. PA-553, " Bridge at West Falls "
• Photo of Y-junction on Flickr
• Photo of freight train crossing bridge on Flickr