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CSX - Thomas Viaduct

Howard County, Maryland, and Baltimore County, Maryland

Photos 

Aerial View Looking Southeast

Photo taken by Historic American Engineering Record

View photos at Library of Congress

BH Photo #137334

Map 

Street Views 

Description 

The Thomas Viaduct was the first masonry arch bridge built on a curve and remains the largest of its type. Built by the Baltimore & Ohio it remains in use by B & O successor line CSX.

Facts 

Overview
Eight-span stone arch bridge over Patapsco River on the B&O Railroad between Relay and Elkridge
Location
Elkridge, Howard County, Maryland, and Baltimore County, Maryland
Status
Open to traffic
History
Built 1835
Builder
- Benjamin Henry Latrobe II of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Designer)
Railroads
- Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (BO)
- CSX Railroad (CSX)
Design
Stone arch
Dimensions
Total length: 612.0 ft.
Recognition
Posted to the National Register of Historic Places
Approximate latitude, longitude
+39.22192, -76.71317   (decimal degrees)
39°13'19" N, 76°42'47" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
18/352113/4342801 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Relay
Inventory numbers
NRHP 66000388 (National Register of Historic Places reference number)
BH 42365 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

19th Century (9,384)
Arbutus, Maryland (1)
Arch (12,815)
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (566)
Baltimore County, Maryland (97)
Benjamin Henry Latrobe II (5)
Built 1835 (29)
Built during 1830s (331)
CSX Railroad (1,836)
County line crossing (534)
Curved (517)
Deck arch (12,037)
 Elkridge, Maryland (1)
HAER documented (1,136)
Have street view (30,135)
Howard County, Maryland (40)
Maryland (872)
NR-listed (3,027)
Open (41,352)
Owned by railroad (13,976)
Railroad (16,920)
Stone arch (3,340)
Total length 500-1000 feet (3,177)

Update Log 

  • October 16, 2016: New photo from Dave King
  • March 17, 2016: New photo from Luke
  • April 16, 2015: New photos from David McCardell
  • September 29, 2014: New photos from Alexander D. Mitchell IV
  • May 26, 2014: Updated by Luke Harden: Added cities
  • September 26, 2012: New photos from Jann Mayer
  • August 17, 2012: Updated by Daniel Hopkins: Added category "Railroad"
  • October 2, 2010: Updated by Ed Hollowell: Added discription.
  • April 19, 2009: Posted HAER photos

Sources 

  • HAER MD-3 - Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, Thomas Viaduct, Spanning Patapsco River, Elkridge, Howard County, MD
  • Ed Hollowell - erhollowell [at] aol [dot] com
  • Wikipedia
  • Jann Mayer - jannmayer [at] gmail [dot] com
  • Luke
  • Alexander D. Mitchell IV
  • David McCardell - mccardelldavid [at] gmail [dot] com
  • Dave King - DKinghawkfan [at] hotmail [dot] com
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Comments 

CSX - Thomas Viaduct
Posted September 22, 2022, by GH (golociusa [at] netscape [dot] net)

The bridge structure is historically in the earlier archives known as the "Thomas Viaduct at Relay":

*https://archive.org/details/TheThomasViaductAtRelayMaryland (1921)

* 1996 ICOMOS.org "Context for World Heritage Bridges", Author Eric DeLony, noted preservationist & chief of the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER, 1971 - 2003)

* Figure 13 Thomas Viaduct (1835), Relay, Maryland (USA). This illustration is from The United States Illustrated (1850).Smithsonian Institution

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HUQZMtOoHk

* History of Relay, Maryland, and the Thomas Viaduct (1995), Author Daniel Carroll Toomey

* https://whatsupmag.com/culture/relay-maryland-s-historic-hor...