The Rockville Bridge from North Front St. Harrisburg 

Picture by Ralph Brandt – Nikon D80 Tameron 70-300 Lens

This picture shows a white birch in the foreground and the Rockville Bridge, a railroad bridge that connects the west shore near Enola to the east shore just north of Harrisburg.  The bridge is over 100 years old and still handles considerable train traffic from the Enola yards.  US Route 15 heads north through that little town you can see beyond the bridge.  The view of the Susquehanna shows an island, trees along the banks, and rocks that protrude above the water.  Look closely at the first arch on the left side of the picture and you will see a white ‘U” shaped piece of pipe.  I am not sure what that carries but this is indicative of how bridges are used to carry other infrastructure.  This “U” is an expansion joint to provide give as the temperature changes and the pipe lengthens and shortens.  If you look carefully you can see a portion of another of these on the ninth arch from the left.  If you look through the arch you will see what appear to be islands.  Much of this is the remnants of an older bridge that crossed just north of this one.  Other pictures in the collection show this.

Close-up of Rockville Bridge Arches

Picture by Ralph Brandt – Nikon D80 Tameron 70-300 Lens

This picture shows a closer shot of the arches of the Rockville bridge.  Note the alternate pillars of the arches are narrower.  The is a train on the bridge as this was taken.  Also note that there are two pipelines supported by the bridge, the white one and a larger one that is above it.  The rocky areas in the foreground are typical of the river at this point.

The North Side with a Train

Picture by Ralph Brandt – Nikon D80 Tameron 70-300 Lens

This shot is taken from the north side of the bridge.  Not what appears to be islands in the river but are really the remnants of a previous bridge.   Telephone cables are carried on this side of the bridge. But this shot shows why this bridge was built, to carry rail traffic.  A side note, this bridge has seen more time with Steam engines than diesels.

The arch spans a road on the east side

Picture by Ralph Brandt – Nikon D80 Tameron 70-300 Lens

This shot is taken from the north side or the bridge facing south on Front Street.  Note the massive arch and the curve in the road to accommodate the bridge.   Telephone cables and fiber optic cables are visible in this picture.  Remember when looking at this arch, the bridge was built several decades before automobiles.  The builders could never have imagined the need for more lanes and space.

 Before Rockville there was another bridge

Picture by Ralph Brandt – Nikon D80 Tameron 70-300 Lens

Two of the crumbling pillars of this bridge are seen in the foreground.  To be frank, I wasn’t aware of that bridge until the day I took these pictures.  I look at the spacing of the pillars and wonder if it was in fact a railroad bridge, if it was, the rolling stock was far lighter then  The pillars If you look at the next two patches of rubble you can see the rocks from other pillars.  Note that the upstream side of the old pillars is far worse damaged than the downstream.  Much of this is from ice flows on the river during the spring thaws.    

Picture by Ralph Brandt – Nikon D80 Tameron 70-300 Lens

This picture gives a better perspective of the older bridge that once crossed the river where the Rockville bridge is today.  

Interstate 81 Bridge through a Rockville Bridge Arch

Picture by Ralph Brandt – Nikon D80 Tameron 70-300 Lens

This picture shows the Interstate 81 bridge through an arch of the  Rockville bridge.