Old bridge piers near Perryville, MD

[MP57313]

Right next to Amtrak's NEC bridge over the Susquehanna, there are several stone piers from a former bridge. None of the spans are there. This bridge is drawn on the SPV atlas.

Does anyone know if this abandoned bridge was a separate one for freight, or is it just an older bridge that was later replaced by the one currently used by Amtrak and MARC?

Thanx
MP

[Anonymous]

The first bridge dated from 1866 and was wood. Although beefed up with iron over the years, the original wood bridge was replaced with the current one in 1906. The first bridge then was sold to private individuals and later the State of Maryland for highway use. The US Route 40 bridge replaced this structure.

To read more and see photos as well as the original car ferry system, see "TriumphVI 1827-2003" by Chas. Roberts and David Messer which is currently in print.

[Overmod]

It's not unusual to see this sort of thing: the more capable 'replacement' bridge is built in parallel, so as not to interrupt traffic, and it would cost more to get rid of the stone piers than to periodically ensure they aren't crumbling.

It's possible that one of the reasons this bridge was decommissioned has to do with tolls. Any bridge on those piers couldn't be very wide... probably 2 lanes with no shoulder. You'd need to provide toll booths, approach roads on either side, etc. etc., plow it in winter and maintain the paving and deck. Not a particularly safe option, especially on a long uninterrupted span like this one.

There's at least one precedent on a highway system: There was a rather large 4-lane bridge across the Delaware River off Route 46 a few miles east of the Delaware Water Gap, which has been completely removed except for traces of its approach ramps. AFAIK this was done to preserve the "integrity" of the toll-bridge collections on the other river crossings between NJ and PA. Interestingly enough, there is a very old single-track iron bridge, with the deck taken up (so nobody can walk across it?) right next to the line of highway piers in the river.

[RudyRockvilleMD]

The piers downstream from the Amtrak bridge over the Susquehanna River carried what is now MD Route 7 across the river between Havre de Grace and Perryville. The Amtrak bridge may have possibly been built a little earlier than1906; I though it was built around 1901.

If I remember correctly (after all these many years and trips on the Pennsylvania Railroad) the old wood bridge was still in place for a few years during World War II after the US 40 bridge was opened.

Now there is talk of possibly putting a foot bridge on those piers to connect Havre de Grace and Perryville as a part of the Lower Susquehanna Historic Greenway. trail which is on both sides of the river There is no way you can walk across the US 40 bridge since there are no walkways. I am not sure if there might not have been a walkway on the south side of the US 40 bridge earlier, but it may have been removed in a reconstruction several years ago. A photograph taken of a Pennsylvania train crossing the Susquehanna River many years ago looks as if it might have been taken from the US 40 Bridge.

[MP57313]

Thanks for all the responses, including the detailed background information.

As overmod mentioned, I've seen other RR locations where both the old and new bridges are still in place, such as the James River crossing near the US 501 bridge west of Lynchburg, VA. The old bridge is now part of the Appalachian Trail.