While on vacation, Marty and I visited Kinzua (pronounced Kin-zoo) Bridge State Park located in the town of Mt. Jewett, Pennsylvania. This state park boasts the incredible Kinzua Viaduct which was considered by some to be the 8th Wonder of the World. When built in 1882, the viaduct was the highest railroad bridge in the world – it was made of iron and was 301 feet high, 2,053 feet long, and weighed over 3 million pounds. Years later, the viaduct had to be rebuilt with steel to accommodate heavier trains – the measurements remained the same but the weight increased to over 6 million pounds! Freight traffic was stopped in the late ‘50s; however, excursion trains traveled across the bridge until 2002. In 2003, a tornado hit the area and ripped half of the bridge down. The twisted sections of the bridge still lay on the valley floor where they fell as an amazing testimony of God's tremendous power.
Being able to walk out on this bridge is really amazing - of course, if you're afraid of heights, I don't recommend it! At the end of the walkway is a glass floor which reveals a view of the valley floor 200+ feet below - I found this a tad intimidating. However, there were several people there laying on their stomachs for an even closer view!
The Kinzua Bridge is located four miles north of US 6 at Mt. Jewett on SR 3011. If you visit the area and love ice cream, look up My Sister’s Place – a little restaurant in Mt. Jewett. We ordered a small dish of ice cream to share that looked more like an XXL!
(These are the sections of the bridge that were blown down in the tornado.)
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