Wilmington Rail Viaduct

The viaduct extends from Vandever Avenue, on its east end (a location on the railroad known as LANDLITH interlocking), across the Brandywine Creek and then roughly parallel to the Christina River through Wilmington Station. The west end of the viaduct is adjacent to the Alban Park neighborhood of Wilmington, an area also known as West Yard. The bulk of the viaduct, from Vandever Avenue to Lower Linden Street, consists of earthen fill (derived from the construction excavation for the viaduct) held between heavy ashlar sandstone retaining walls resting on concrete foundations. Some of the northern sections of the viaduct have fill enclosed in timber cribbing on one side of the right-of-way, but generally the fill is contained with retaining walls on both sides. The ashlar also forms the abutments for the overpasses carrying the railroad tracks across city streets, which are steel plate through girder or deck girder bridges. The fill carries three tracks for much of its length; sidings, some now abandoned, descend to street level by ramps at various points. It was topped with of ballast before tracks were laid. The bridge over the Brandywine Creek near the east end of the viaduct had to be replaced to accommodate the newly elevated track level. At the time, this part of the Brandywine was considered navigable water, though rarely used, and the railroad had to construct a moveable bridge to accommodate navigation. The railroad chose to use a swing bridge, and began construction of the center pivot pier in the winter of 1903. The first caisson sunk there was damaged by ice and swept away in a flood. A new caisson was built resumed after the winter passed and a stone-faced concrete pier, in diameter, successfully constructed. A second pier was built in the stream to the southwest, leaving two channels between the pivot pier and the bank and the pivot and second piers. Icebreakers were built on either side of the pivot pier. (The tidal nature of the Brandywine required both sides of the bridge to be protected from ice.) The structure has undergone relatively little modification since its construction. A 1920s electrification program to Wilmington added support structures to string catenary wires along the length of the viaduct. During the early 20th century, the swing bridge over the Brandywine was fixed in place and the engine and control buildings removed. In 1955, the construction of the Walnut Street Bridge required an undergrade bridge to be built to carry a new, wider alignment of Walnut Street slightly to the east of its original course. The new bridge is of plate girder construction over concrete abutments and piers. In 1983, Amtrak replaced the superstructure of the Poplar Street bridge and refurbished the piers and abutments. ==History==

The rail line through Wilmington, originally constructed by the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad in 1837, came under the control of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) when it bought a controlling interest in the PW&B in 1881. As the PRR digested its Gilded Age acquisitions, freight traffic on its lines boomed, increasing by 64% between 1897 and 1902 in the recovery following the Panic of 1893. Longer, heavier, and more frequent trains pushed the railroad's existing infrastructure to its limits; however, they also brought an enormous increase in earnings. During the beginning of the 20th century, the PRR invested a portion of these profits in improving its rights-of-way and expanding capacity throughout its system. An important component of these improvements was grade crossing elimination. In many of the cities served by PRR lines, the railroad tracks ran at ground level, crossing the streets at grade. As train speeds increased and traffic swelled, preventing grade crossing accidents became increasingly difficult. In Wilmington, the PRR had already built the Shellpot Branch in 1888 to divert through freight traffic through the sparsely developed marshes to the south of the city. and it was under his direction that the railroad's engineering department drew up the plans for the viaduct. train pulled by a GG1 crosses the Brandywine River swing bridge. City streets were to be crossed by iron bridges, minimizing roadwork. The railroad originally planned to build iron bridgework to connect old and new segments of the main line during construction to minimize service disruptions. However, it was not required, because service was able to continue on the old main line without interruption. Plans also had to be altered in the West Yard area, where marshy ground dictated the construction of an arched viaduct rather than a fill. Construction commenced in the spring of 1902, starting in the area around Wilmington station and working outwards. Simultaneously, construction began from LANDLITH toward the Brandywine. The original completion date of mid-1905 was not met, The new swing bridge over the Brandywine was opened on March 1, 1906, however, the side of the new Wilmington station serving those tracks did not go into service until July 7, 1908. As early as 1918, the PRR had begun electrifying some of its lines radiating from Philadelphia to replace steam trains with double-ended multiple unit cars to ease congestion at its terminal. Extension of the electrification program to Wilmington was announced on March 25, 1926, and electrified local service opened on September 30, 1928. The PRR continued to operate service over the viaduct until its 1968 merger with the New York Central Railroad to form the Penn Central Transportation Company. After the bankruptcy of Penn Central in 1976, the viaduct, with the rest of the Northeast Corridor, was transferred to Amtrak, which currently maintains and operates it. Construction of the viaduct had a significant effect on the development of Wilmington. In addition to emphasizing the stability and importance of the PRR, the elevated fill both visually and spatially separated the Christina River waterfront from the rest of the city north of Front Street. It served to both maintain and screen the heavy industries that grew up along the waterfront during the 20th century. ==See also==