High Bridge of Kentucky

High Bridge
An aerial view of the High Bridge
Coordinates 37°49′00″N 84°43′12″W / 37.8168°N 84.7200°W / 37.8168; -84.7200 (High Bridge)Coordinates: 37°49′00″N 84°43′12″W / 37.8168°N 84.7200°W / 37.8168; -84.7200 (High Bridge)
Carries Railroad
Crosses Kentucky River
Locale Jessamine & Mercer Counties, Kentucky, United States
Characteristics
Design Truss
Total length 1,125 feet (343 m)
Height 275 feet (84 m) (or 308 ft.)
History
Designer Charles Shaler Smith (1876)
Gustav Lindenthal (1911)
Opened 1877 (1877)

High Bridge is a railroad bridge crossing the Kentucky River Palisades, connecting Jessamine and Mercer counties, Kentucky. Constructed in 1876, it is the first cantilever bridge in the United States. It has a three-span continuous under-deck truss used by Norfolk Southern Railway to carry trains between Lexington and Danville. It has been designated as a National Civil Engineering Landmark.[1]

History

A bridge was begun in the 1850s for the Lexington and Danville Railroad. Designed by John A. Roebling (who designed the Brooklyn Bridge) as a suspension bridge supported by stone towers, it was not completed. The towers for the suspension cables were built and portions remained until 1929.

The bridge was redesigned of cantilever design and opened in 1877 on the Cincinnati Southern Railway.[2] It was 275 feet (84 m) tall and 1,125 feet (343 m) long: the tallest bridge above a navigable waterway in North America and the tallest railroad bridge in the world until the early 20th century. With a three-span continuous under-deck truss, it was designed by Charles Shaler Smith and was the first cantilever bridge in the United States. In 1879 President Hayes and Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman attended the dedication.[3]

The current bridge, designed by Gustav Lindenthal, was built around the existing structure in 1911 and expanded to two tracks in 1929.

In 2005 the state and county jointly reopened a park near the bridge (which had been closed since the mid 1960s) at the top of the palisades above the river. It included a restored open air dance pavilion, first used in the 19th century; as well as a new playground, picnic area, and viewing platform that overlooks the bridge and river's edge from the top of the palisades.[4]

See also

References

High Bridge, viewed from Jessamine County
High Bridge Historical Marker
  1. ↑ Griggs, Francis (2002). "Kentucky River High Bridge". Journal of Bridge Engineering. 7 (2): 73–84. doi:10.1061/(ASCE)1084-0702(2002)7:2(73).
  2. ↑ Rennick, Robert M. (1987). Kentucky Place Names. University Press of Kentucky. p. 139. ISBN 0813126312. Retrieved 2013-04-28.
  3. ↑ "Engineering Timelines - The Forth Rail Bridge - The Cantilever Principle". Archived from the original on 2008-05-11. Retrieved 2008-06-20.
  4. ↑ "High Bridge". University of Kentucky. Retrieved 2009-06-17.
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