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Railway

Old Wisla Bridge
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: BridgesEra: 1850-1859DateCreated: 1850-1857Vistula RiverTczewCountry: PolandWebsite: http://www.asce.org/Project/Old-Wisla-Bridge/Creator: Lentze, Carl

Conceived as one of the major structures on the Prussian Eastern Railway, the Old Wisla Bridge at Tczew originally consisted of six wrought iron spans. Due to Germany's invasion of Poland at the beginning World War II in 1939, only three original spans remain today. These remaining spans represent a unique technical monument of civil engineering achievements in the mid-nineteenth century.

YearAdded:
2004
Image Credit: Courtesy Wikicommons/Topory (CC BY-SA 3.0)Image Caption: Old Wisla BridgeEra_date_from: 1850
St. Clair Tunnel
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: TunnelsEra: 1890-1899DateCreated: 1891Beneath the St. Clair RiverSarniaState: ONZip: N7T 8G8Country: CanadaWebsite: http://www.asce.org/Project/St--Clair-Tunnel/Creator: Hobson, Joseph , Beach, Alfred

A Day's Pay According to tunnel records, the following pay rates were established for the 600-700 laborers required for this project: 

YearAdded:
1991
Image Credit: Public DomainImage Caption: Postcard of the west end St. Clair River Tunnel in Port Huron, Michigan, United States.Era_date_from: 1891
Queensboro Bridge
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: BridgesEra: 1900-1909DateCreated: 1909Queensboro Bridge PathLong Island CityState: NYZip: 11101Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/Project/Queensboro-Bridge/Creator: Lindenthal, Gustav , Hornbostel, Henry

When opened in 1909, the Queensboro Bridge had the two longest steel cantilever spans in the world - 1,182 feet from Manhattan to Blackwell's Island and 984 feet from Blackwell's Island to Queens. These would remain the world's longest cantilever spans until the completion of the Quebec Bridge in 1917. The Queensboro Bridge has an overall length of 3,724.5 feet. It originally carried two elevated railway lines, two trolley lines, six carriage lanes and two pedestrian walkways. 

YearAdded:
2009
Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/reivax (CC BY-SA 2.0)Image Caption: Queensboro BridgeEra_date_from: 1909
Pilatusbahn - the world's steepest cog railway
Society: ASMEMain Category: MechanicalSub Category: Rail TransportationEra: 1880-1889DateCreated: 1882Brünigstrasse 4
605
AlpnachCountry: SwitzerlandWebsite: https://www.asme.org/about-asme/who-we-are/engineering-history/landmarks/220-pilatusbahn, https://www.asme.org/getmedia/8c4b369d-83fd-4b9e-9248-b6d78b28628c/220-Pilatusbahn-1882.aspxCreator: Locher, Eduard , Locher Systems

The Pilatusbahn—the steepest rack railway in the world—has operated successfully since its opening in 1889 over a route of 4.62 kilometers (2.87 miles) between Alpnachstad on Lake Lucerne and Pilatus Kulm, rising 6,791 feet (2,070 meters) above sea level. This results in a gradient of 48%, or a rise of nearly one meter in two meters of run on the steepest sections of the line, which amounts to about a quarter of its length.

YearAdded:
2002
Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/Stephane Dewarrat (CC BY-SA 2.0)Image Caption: PilatusbahnEra_date_from: 1882
Lookout Mountain Incline Railway
Society: ASMEMain Category: MechanicalSub Category: Rail TransportationEra: 1890-1899DateCreated: 1895Lookout MountainChattanoogaState: TNZip: 37350Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/history/landmarks/topics-m-z/rail-transportation---2/-156-lookout-mountain-incline-railway-%281895%29, https://www.asme.org/getmedia/769218e7-8ab4-486a-8de5-f5e7a4299859/156-Lookout-Mountain-Incline-Railway-1895.aspxCreator: Crass, John , Lookout Mountain Incline Railway Company

At the mountain where the Civil War's Battle Above the Clouds was waged, tourist business has thrived from the building of its first toll road (Whiteside Pike) in 1857 to present day.

YearAdded:
1991
Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/Duane Tate (CC BY 2.0)Image Caption: Lookout Mountain Incline RailwayEra_date_from: 1895
Kinzua Railway Viaduct
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: BridgesEra: 1880-1889DateCreated: 1882Kinzua CreekMcKean CountyState: PAZip: 16735Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/Project/Kinzua-Railway-Viaduct/Creator: Chanute, Octave , Phoenix Iron Works

The workforce consisted of less than 100 men, yet they finished construction in just 94 days. Such speed was possible due to the elimination of scaffolding. Instead, iron rods were used to support construction of the trusses between the towers, and workers moved back and forth across the rods. A dangerous venture, yet no workers were seriously injured.

YearAdded:
1982
Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/Peter Pawlowski (CC BY 2.0)Image Caption: Kinzua Railway ViaductEra_date_from: 1882
Society: ASMEMain Category: MechanicalSub Category: Rail TransportationEra: 1900-1909DateCreated: 1904The Transit MuseumBrooklynState: NYZip: 11201Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/history/landmarks/topics-m-z/rail-transportation---1/-31-interborough-rapid-trasit-system-%28original-linCreator: Belmont, August
Plans to build a rapid transit system in New York were first made in 1831. By 1868 the first elevated railway was erected. As the "El" became crowded, construction of an underground railway was proposed. Ground was broken on March 24, 1900. The original subway, which took opened October 27, 1904, ran 9.1 miles from City Hall to 145th Street and Broadway. The fare was a nickel. Extensions to the Bronx opened in 1905 and to Brooklyn in 1908, completing the first subway.
YearAdded:
1978
Image Credit: Courtesy Wikipedia/Adam E. Moreira (CC BY-SA 3.0)Image Caption: Interborough Rapid Trasit System Original LineEra_date_from: 1904
Conwy Tubular Bridge
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: Bridges, Roads & RailsEra: 1840-1849DateCreated: 1849River ConwyState: North WhalesCountry: UKWebsite: http://www.asce.org/Project/Conwy-Tubular-Bridge/Creator: Stephenson, Robert

Built by Robert Stephenson to carry the Chester and Holyhead Railway across the River Conwy, this bridge was erected between 1846 and 1848. It consists of a single span 400 feet long, formed by two parallel rectangular wrought iron tubes, each weighing 1300 tons. Masonry towers were built on the abutments and topped with battlements and turrets to harmonize with the nearby Conwy Castle. The Conwy Tubular Bridge was the first railway bridge in which trains ran through the main girders. It represents a pioneering use of wrought iron for bridges.

YearAdded:
2002
Image Credit: Original Photo: Flickr/Glenn J. MasonImage Caption: Conwy Tubular BridgeEra_date_from: 1849
North Island Main Trunk Railway
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: Roads & RailsEra: 1900-1909DateCreated: 1908Pipitea Point StationWellingtonZip: 6011Country: New ZealandWebsite: http://www.asce.org/Project/North-Island-Main-Trunk-Railway/Creator: Rochfort, John

The North Island Main Trunk Railway permitted overland travel and development of the New Zealand hinterland. Built under challenging conditions and over difficult terrain, all cuts, fills, and tunneling were minimized by careful use of the topography and by innovative engineering. 

Over 30 miles south of Taumarunui, the North Island Main Trunk Railway climbs 2,086 feet to the edge of the great Waimarino Plateau. But over the last seven miles, an abrupt increase in altitude of over 700 feet posed an engineering challenge that led to the design of the famed Raurimu Spiral. 

YearAdded:
1997
Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/SibleyHunter (CC BY 2.0)Image Caption: Wellington Railway Station, part of the original North Island Main Trunk RailwayEra_date_from: 1908
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Innovations

North Island Main Trunk Railway

The North Island Main Trunk Railway permitted overland travel and development of the New Zealand hinterland. Built under challenging conditions and over difficult terrain, all cuts, fills, and tunneling were minimized by careful use of the topography and by innovative engineering. 

Over…

Read More
Conwy Tubular Bridge

Built by Robert Stephenson to carry the Chester and Holyhead Railway across the River Conwy, this bridge was erected between 1846 and 1848. It consists of a single span 400 feet long, formed by two parallel rectangular wrought iron tubes, each weighing 1300 tons. Masonry towers were built on the…

Read More
Plans to build a rapid transit system in New York were first made in 1831. By 1868 the first elevated railway was erected. As the "El" became crowded, construction of an underground railway was proposed. Ground was broken on March 24, 1900. The original subway, which took opened October 27, 1904,… Read More
Kinzua Railway Viaduct

The workforce consisted of less than 100 men, yet they finished construction in just 94 days. Such speed was possible due to the elimination of scaffolding. Instead, iron rods were used to support construction of the trusses between the towers, and workers moved back and forth across the rods. A…

Read More
Lookout Mountain Incline Railway

At the mountain where the Civil War's Battle Above the Clouds was waged, tourist business has thrived from the building of its first toll road (Whiteside Pike) in 1857 to present day.

More than 75,000 tourists a year were visiting the site when the war interceded. Tourism was not…

Read More
Pilatusbahn - the world's steepest cog railway

The Pilatusbahn—the steepest rack railway in the world—has operated successfully since its opening in 1889 over a route of 4.62 kilometers (2.87 miles) between Alpnachstad on Lake Lucerne and Pilatus Kulm, rising 6,791 feet (2,070 meters) above sea level. This results in a gradient of 48%, or a…

Read More
Queensboro Bridge

When opened in 1909, the Queensboro Bridge had the two longest steel cantilever spans in the world - 1,182 feet from Manhattan to Blackwell's Island and 984 feet from Blackwell's Island to Queens. These would remain the world's longest cantilever spans until the completion of the Quebec Bridge…

Read More
St. Clair Tunnel

A Day's Pay According to tunnel records, the following pay rates were established for the 600-700 laborers required for this project: 

  1. 17.5 cents per hour for diggers 
  2. 15 cents per hour for erectors 
  3. 12.5 cents per hour for others 
  4. One additional dollar…
Read More
Old Wisla Bridge

Conceived as one of the major structures on the Prussian Eastern Railway, the Old Wisla Bridge at Tczew originally consisted of six wrought iron spans. Due to Germany's invasion of Poland at the beginning World War II in 1939, only three original spans remain today. These remaining spans…

Read More

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