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Kinzua Viaduct Update--and Franco is still dead...
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Author:  Alexander D. Mitchell IV [ Tue Aug 17, 2004 10:30 pm ]
Post subject:  Kinzua Viaduct Update--and Franco is still dead...
From www.railpace.com/hotnews:

KINZUA VIADUCT REMOVED FROM NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES: The Kinzua Viaduct, a railroad bridge that was once the longest and tallest in the world, has been taken off the National Register of Historic Places because of a tornado that ripped apart the engineering marvel last July. But what really bothers state historians is the date on which that decision was made official: July 21, the one-year anniversary of the tornado whose 94 mph winds toppled the trestle. Officially, the viaduct was removed from the register because the storm damage ruined it's "integrity" — that is, the structure's soundness and similarity to its original condition. The Rendell administration decided it could not afford an estimated $45 million to rebuild the bridge, which stretched almost a half-mile and towered 301 feet above a gorge near the Allegheny National Forest, about 110 miles northeast of Pittsburgh. (AP - posted 8/17)

LNER4472-NOSPAM-@bcpl.net
Author:  Superheater [ Wed Aug 18, 2004 12:31 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Kinzua Viaduct Update--and Franco is still dea
> From www.railpace.com/hotnews:

> KINZUA VIADUCT REMOVED FROM NATIONAL
> REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES: The Kinzua
> Viaduct, a railroad bridge that was once the
> longest and tallest in the world, has been
> taken off the National Register of Historic
> Places because of a tornado that ripped
> apart the engineering marvel last July. But
> what really bothers state historians is the
> date on which that decision was made
> official: July 21, the one-year anniversary
> of the tornado whose 94 mph winds toppled
> the trestle. Officially, the viaduct was
> removed from the register because the storm
> damage ruined it's "integrity" —
> that is, the structure's soundness and
> similarity to its original condition. The
> Rendell administration decided it could not
> afford an estimated $45 million to rebuild
> the bridge, which stretched almost a
> half-mile and towered 301 feet above a gorge
> near the Allegheny National Forest, about
> 110 miles northeast of Pittsburgh. (AP -
> posted 8/17)

You simply have to understand that this bridge is located nowhere, has no constituency (other than us) and reconstruction will not help anybody get re-elected to figure out how the decision was made.



superheater62@yahoo.com
Author:  Randy Gustafson [ Wed Aug 18, 2004 5:58 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Kinzua Viaduct Update--and Franco is still dea
It's kind of a Hobson's choice here - nobody wants to see the bridge in wreckage, but if they DID award $45 million for the rebuilding, say, instead of doing something about the EBT, or (insert_project_name_here), would that be the best possible expenditure of funds? I live not far from the bridge, and I can argue quite effectively even with myself, so I don't expect to win any battles with anyone else.

What I don't quite like, or understand (yet) is the removal from the register - if that is what happened. I've been to several instances where the nomination was a "site", not an object (National Engineering Landmark); sometimes minimally intact but the LOCATION of where something important at least was. I would have preferred that the site remain as a register to at least leave the door open for some future possibility that we mere mortals can't imagine. Removing it entirely would seem to be unnecessary; possible reclassification... but this is most likely Monday Morning quarterbacking.

Anyway, take a look at this link and you'll see what I mean. This is an awesome place, and demonstrates power of a different sort.

Sheldon Church (SC) Ruins
randygustafson@stoneconsulting.com
Author:  Steve Singer [ Thu Aug 19, 2004 7:34 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Kinzua Viaduct Update--and Franco is still dea
> It's kind of a Hobson's choice here - nobody
> wants to see the bridge in wreckage, but if
> they DID award $45 million for the
> rebuilding, say, instead of doing something
> about the EBT, or
> (insert_project_name_here), would that be
> the best possible expenditure of funds? I
> live not far from the bridge, and I can
> argue quite effectively even with myself, so
> I don't expect to win any battles with
> anyone else.

> What I don't quite like, or understand (yet)
> is the removal from the register - if that
> is what happened. I've been to several
> instances where the nomination was a
> "site", not an object (National
> Engineering Landmark); sometimes minimally
> intact but the LOCATION of where something
> important at least was. I would have
> preferred that the site remain as a register
> to at least leave the door open for some
> future possibility that we mere mortals
> can't imagine. Removing it entirely would
> seem to be unnecessary; possible
> reclassification... but this is most likely
> Monday Morning quarterbacking.

> Anyway, take a look at this link and you'll
> see what I mean. This is an awesome place,
> and demonstrates power of a different sort.
Go to venangoil.com and click the disappearing bridges link for a wonderful feature on this bridge.

bas1210@comcast.net
Author:  Aarne H. Frobom [ Thu Aug 19, 2004 11:24 am ]
Post subject:  National Register removal?
"What I don't quite like, or understand (yet) is the removal from the register - if that is what happened."

I suppose its original National Register nomination might have been in terms of the Kinzua Viaduct being an INTACT artifact that was the largest of its kind. The historic facts of the Viaduct remain unchanged, so perhaps it should be renominated as a remnant of its historic self. The church ruins sound very much like what I had in mind when I visualized the Viaduct ruins continuing to be a site of tourism and veneration.

- Aarne Frobom
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