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Tornado damage has made landmark an attractive hazard

Sunday, July 27, 2003

By Lillian Thomas, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

The fallen giant smashed in Kinzua gorge is drawing people who are curious to see what a tornado did to a 301-foot-high span that stood for more than a century. Officials are warning that the area around the historic Kinzua Viaduct, which was toppled by 100 mph winds Monday, is extremely dangerous.

	Engineers look down from the Kinzua Viaduct to assess the damage. (V.W.H. Campbell Jr., Post-Gazette)

They are scrambling to clear some of the thousands of trees flattened by the winds and secure the bridge debris and remaining towers so they can welcome people to Kinzua Bridge State Park instead of barring them.

Park officials have had to cite people trespassing in the closed park to grab pieces of the fallen bridge for souvenirs, including a man trying to haul a pickup bed full of debris out of the park and a father taking his two children under "widowmaker" trees left leaning precariously and down into the gorge strewn with unstable hunks of the bridge bristling with rusted nails.

"I was up to the bridge and an incredible amount of danger still exists there," said Terry Brady of the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, which runs the McKean County park.

"I didn't like being down below. You have this monstrosity of what's left towering above you with pieces that could fall," he said.

"When the tornado hit, the inner rail -- that's an extra rail which keeps the train from dumping off the edge if it derails -- that whole ribbon of steel, was pulled off like a snake. It popped off every individual spike. We're talking about hundreds of spikes. And if any one of those were to fall off, it would go straight through a hard hat."

Eleven of the bridge's 20 towers were toppled in the storm, blowing out a 1,400-foot central section. Crews are working to get the standing towers secured so nothing else will come down, he said. "They are also trying to get the park to where the public can come and see this marvel, or tragedy, of nature," Brady said.

The department hopes to be able to reopen the park late this week. Engineers are assessing the nine towers that withstood the tornado -- six on the park end of the bridge and three on the opposite end -- all of which had been restored in a $12 million project started earlier this year.

The state will have to decide whether to demolish those and flush the money already spent; secure and preserve the towers as historic remnants, or rebuild the entire bridge.

The original viaduct was built in 1882. It was the project of Gen. Thomas Kane, who owned a coal company and conceived of an engineering feat that would attract people to the area as well as move coal across the gorge. It was the tallest bridge in the world when it was built. The 301-foot-high, 2,053-footlong iron structure was demolished and replaced by a duplicate steel structure in 1900. When state engineers determined rust and deterioration had made it unsafe, they closed it to train and pedestrian traffic last summer and started the restoration project.

The cleanup cost is going to be large, Brady said, and rebuilding the bridge would be a major project at a time of when state funds are scarce. The viaduct's role in the local economy is substantial.

	The bridge's midsection collapsed Monday after 100 mph winds struck it. The structure was regarded at the turn of the 20th Century as an engineering marvel and was promoted as the "Eighth Wonder of the World." (V.W.H. Campbell Jr., Post-Gazette)

"Nature tourism is our major attraction, and the single most visited attraction is the viaduct itself," said Linda Devlin, executive director of the Allegheny National Forest Vacation Bureau.

The national forest draws more than 3 million people a year, she said. Between 145,000 and 160,000 people a year drive into Kinzua Bridge State Park; 20,000 a year ride the Knox & Kane Railroad, a private company that runs steam locomotive trips on the rail line.

Until last year, the train crossed the bridge, which the company leased from the state. When engineers determined the bridge was unsafe, the railroad stopped the train short of the bridge and let visitors get the view from an observation tower, or, when park officials were present, walk out onto the restored section of the bridge.

Losing the bridge would hurt businesses in McKean County that depend on the people it draws.

It would be a loss to others as well. Devlin has received hundreds of e-mails and calls a day since the bridge fell on Monday, most urging officials to find a way to rebuild the structure.

"I am heartsick that this has come down," wrote Debra Dawidowicz, who now lives in Southington, Conn., but grew up near the bridge. "I rode the bridge with my grandmother a few years ago, on the Knox train, and sat and had lunch on the train. It was like flying in midair, being suspended while eating lunch, as you could not see the bridge rails! It was awesome!! . . . Please, please consider putting her back up."

Maureen Monaghan, of Castle Rock, Wash., wrote: "Please consider rebuilding the viaduct. There was nothing so magical as standing upon the bridge to view the spectacular fall foliage. ... It felt like I was at heaven's door."

The funds for restoring the bridge came from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, the state's general fund, and the DNCR. Officials said it was too early to even estimate the cost of rebuilding.

"It's a shame we lost something we can never regain -- the work men did 100 years ago," said Gretchen Leslie of the DCNR. "Our immediate concern is engineering assessment and cleanup. Then we talk about options and price tags."