The Safe Harbor Bridge also known as the Safe Harbor Trestle, Port Road Bridge and the Enola Low Grade Line (A&S Railroad) Steel Trestle is a steel

deck truss A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss, a structure of connected elements, usually forming triangular units. The connected elements, typically straight, may be stressed from tension, compression, or s ...

trestle that spans the

Conestoga River The Conestoga River (), also referred to as Conestoga Creek (), is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed August 8, 2011 tributary of the Susquehanna River flowing through t ...

Safe Harbor, Pennsylvania Safe Harbor is an unincorporated community located within Conestoga Township in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. The general location was an early staging area for Native American tribes traversing the Susquehanna River from the s ...

near the

Susquehanna River The Susquehanna River ( ; Unami language, Lenape: ) is a major river located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, crossing three lower Northeastern United States, Northeast states (New York, Pennsylvani ...

for the Port Road Branch and the former

Columbia and Port Deposit Railroad The Columbia and Port Deposit Railroad (C&PD) was a railroad that operated in Pennsylvania and Maryland in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It operated a main line between Columbia, Pennsylvania, and Port Deposit, Maryland, generally along th ...

along the

History and notable features

This bridge was built in 1905 for the

Atglen and Susquehanna Branch The Atglen and Susquehanna Branch is an abandoned branch line of the Pennsylvania Railroad that ran between Lemoyne, Pennsylvania, Lemoyne and Atglen, Pennsylvania. A portion of the line is now the Enola Low Grade Trail. History The Atglen and ...

(A&S), also known as the "Low Grade Branch", of the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad ( reporting mark PRR), legal name as the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, also known as the "Pennsy," was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At its ...

(PRR). There is one more bridge at this site, the

Safe Harbor Dam The Safe Harbor Dam (also Safe Harbor Hydroelectric Station) is a concrete gravity dam, with an associated hydroelectric power station, on the lower Susquehanna River. It is the most northerly and last of three Great Depression-era public electri ...

access road bridge. The lower span was raised in 1930, concurrent with the construction of the Safe Harbor Dam. In 1976 the PRR lines became part of

Conrail Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do busine ...

, which abandoned the A&S branch in 1989. The tracks were removed from the upper bridge in 1990. The upper portion has been repurposed to serve as part of the Enola Low Grade Trail.

References

External links

{{Commons category, position=left
Bridge photosTrestle ConstructionSafe Harbor Trestle Bridge on Flickr - by Veender
Bridges over the Conestoga River Bridges in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Railroad bridges in Pennsylvania Historic American Engineering Record in Pennsylvania Norfolk Southern Railway bridges Pennsylvania Railroad bridges Steel bridges in the United States Girder bridges in the United States Pratt truss bridges in the United States Trestle bridges in the United States

History and notable features

See also

References

External links