Delaware Aqueduct

Thanks,Chet.Great information.

George--

Glad to be of some help. My interest in the gravity railroads stemmed from a friendship with the late Dr. Ed Steers of Wallenpaupack. He had quite a collection of railroad stuff.

Chet

Thanks for the history on what I was talking about,Chester.Interesting information which I am interested in.

If memory serves, this line to Honesdale was chartered in the 1880's by the Pennsylvania Coal Company as the Erie & Wyoming Valley RR. Honesdale was the transfer point for coal arriving from the Scranton area via the gravity railroads of both the Delaware & Hudson and The PCC; the D&H Canal took it from there to Rondout on the Hudson River. But the PCC felt the D&H was overcharging them on the canal trip and built the E&WV to haul their coal to Lackawaxen and the Erie RR. The line was later extended to the Scranton area and eventually taken over by the Erie.

It's an Erie line.

Don,I'm actually wondering which railroad originally owned the track from Honesdale where it begins to Lackawaxen where it connects with the rail line Luke was talking about.Also if this same railroad did end at Honesdale or continued past Honesdale.That might be a start to find that out.Then you might find bridges that nobody knows nothing about.Just a guess.

George, I believe it's originally ERIE trackage between Hawley and Lackawaxen. Not sure if the bridge Luke shared is also on the same line.

https://bridgehunter.com/pa/pike/bh47910/

Don,I meant whoever operated the tourist line as a freight and or passenger line originally before the tourist line took over.

Don,i see what you mean about seeing the bridge from the rail line.Only problem is I couldn't get street view to see if anything is blocking the view.I have an idea about the tourist line.Find out who operated that rail line then you could put any bridges on Bridgehunters.

True that, George.

This is not a rail bridge, but the railroad tracks pass just to the west of it. Since it appears in their picture gallery, one might assume that the rail tour departing Hawley follows the Lackawaxen river to the Delaware river, and passengers can get a view of this bridge.

Don,this bridge is in no way connected to the tourist line.This bridge was a waterway which is now a road.

George;

And what a bridge!

This appears to be the bridge in the Stourbridge Lines' gallery. Maybe their rail tour out of Hawley goes down to Lackawaxen, near this bridge.

There also appears to be a rail bridge on the Wayne/Pike county line 200 yards from the Hawley Erie boarding platform, and another half a mile down the line. Those two bridges are not on Bridgehunter.

Perhaps the idea of a new category is valid - it would be a very small category. Russel Lord hired Roebling to use the same type structure that he had proven successful at Pittsburgh. It was a self-supported wooden truss bridge. It was augmented with two large wire cables for support of the water when it was filled in canal season. When it was drained the cables carried no load and served no purpose. Roebling built a total of five such structures. This is the only survivor - rehabilitated several times. We could call it a "part-time" suspension bridge.

The bridge was indeed originally a Roebling built bridge/aqueduct. For years in more recent history the aqueduct part was removed. More recently, the wooden aqueduct structure was replicated on the bridge. However, it remains open to pedestrians. If you look at the elevation views you can see a main cable with suspenders leading down to floor beams. The concrete you see appears to be a deck.

Sure looks like a suspension to me in this pre-restoration photograph...

Perhaps a new category is needed for this one, but I wouldn't know what to call it. It wasn't a suspension bridge when it was built and it isn't a suspension bridge now. The latest photo is excellent. It clearly shows the prestressed concrete deck inside the aqueduct replica.

Minor corrections:

Only half the bridge is in Pike County, Pennsylvania. The eastern half is in Sullivan County, New York.

Only half the bridge was designed and built by John A, Roebling. The abutments and the piers were designed and built by Russel F. Lord.