New Pictorial History Book:<BR> The Great Kinzua Bridge

New Pictorial History Book:
The Great Kinzua Bridge

November 20, 2012

In the spring of 1882, throngs of people gathered in the remote Allegheny Mountains to watch as a crew of 125 workers began building a bridge spanning the wild Kinzua Valley. In September, after just 94 working days, construction was completed. Nearly half a mile long and as high as the Statue of Liberty, the Kinzua Viaduct was the greatest rail bridge ever built and immediately dubbed the “Eighth Wonder of the World.”

First built of iron in 1882, rebuilt in steel in 1900, partially destroyed by a tornado, and then reinvented as the Kinzua Sky Walk this amazing engineering marvel is Located within the Kinzua Bridge State Park, in Mt. Jewett, Pennsylvania. The Kinzua Sky Walk provides stunning vistas of the Kinzua Gorge at a height of 234 feet as you walk out 600 feet into the Kinzua Gorge. Peer through the partial glass floor to admire the steel structure below as you marvel at the power of man and the power of nature.

Forest Press, a division of Seneca Highlands Association, Inc., announces the release of The Great Kinzua Bridge, a pictorial history of the building of the phenomenal rail viaduct. Using vintage photos from historical archives and contemporary images captured by Ed Bernik, award-winning Pennsylvanian photographer, the book chronicles the design and engineering of the original iron bridge, its refurbishment in steel, and its ultimate transformation into a monument celebrating American ingenuity and optimism. The story is punctuated by profiles of the people whose stories are intertwined with the bridge, from Civil War hero and builder Thomas L. Kane to renowned design engineer Octave Chanute and daredevil Odo Valentine who flew an aircraft between its towers.

The Great Kinzua Bridge is 112 pages long and features more than 150 photos and illustrations, including rare nineteenth century mages of the construction of the viaduct, and detailed photos of the steel restoration project undertaken in 1900. Vintage photography is complemented by dramatic contemporary images portraying the devastating destruction wreaked by a tornado in 2003, and aerial views of the new skywalk opened in 2011. The 6” x 9” book can be ordered from Forest Press for a price of $24.95 plus shipping. To place an order, call (800) 473-9370. To place an order online, go to www.visitANF.com. The Great Kinzua Bridge is an ideal item for residents, students, historians, visitors and anyone interested in events that shaped northwestern PA. It’s highly informative and easy to read, and makes a perfect gift.

Forest Press is a non-profit multimedia publishing company whose mission is to celebrate authentic American experiences in the Allegheny National Forest and the Oil and Lumber Heritage regions. The company has previously published two illustrated histories of northwestern Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Wilds: Images from the Allegheny National Forest, and Pennsylvania Crude: Boomtowns and Oil Barons. Forest Press supports geo-tourism in keeping with the National Geographic Society’s guideline of sustaining or enhancing the geographical character of a place—its environment, heritage, aesthetics, culture—and the wellbeing of its residents.