Harpers Ferry Approaching Flood Stage . . .

[David@whiteblaze]

Last big flood here would have been in '96 -- twice that year the river went above 29 feet. When that happens the lower town is under water. No worries about that this time, I think.

Yeah, that was documented in Bill Bryson's A Walk In The Woods, he came 2 weeks after the initial flood, and i think that was 4 weeks befor the second flood?

[Jester2000]

Yeah, that was documented in Bill Bryson's A Walk In The Woods, he came 2 weeks after the initial flood, and i think that was 4 weeks befor the second flood?

Considering the accuracy of the rest of the book, it's possible that he said that. The first one was in January and the second was in September.

[veteran]

Wow. Nice photo. That is the 1851 bridge. Nice view of the canal as well.

Link to a larger photo in high definition

[Rick Hancock]

That is a really great shot of the early days of the C&O. I enjoy hiking and biking along the route as well as the Allegheny Passage. I was in Harpers Ferry sometime in the 90's, can't remember the year, there was a terrible storm on Fri night and on sat the rivers had crested, not all that high but still very impressive. There was a helicopter rescue near the Rt 340 bridge (old A. T. route). Some guy got his kayak jammed in between some rocks, wedged tight and he couldn't get to land.

I'm all for hiking your own hike, and to some degree I don't feel that the trail is as difficult as it once was, (lighter gear, etc) but, sometime common sense has to take over. I have spent a lot of time in the Harpers Ferry area and have played in the Potomac and Shenendoah Rivers. I've seen it knee deep and placid and I've seen it at flood stage it's not a river to take lightly.

Funny story, in the old days circa 1980's I would lead hikes in the area, back then you could park almost anywhere in town. we would sleep in the back of my truck and cross on the old railroad bridge to the C&O Canal you had to be careful and not let the RailRoad Dicks (guards) catch you it was highly illegal!

[Newb]

This ain't over yet. 1 to 2 feet of snow expected this weekend.

[evan.oliver]

Is anyone else shocked and appalled that an iron (truss) bridge from the 1800s is still carrying trains? Seriously? I'd like to think that we can do a little better than that in modern America. I thought we learned our lesson with the I-35 W bridge crossing the Mississippi.

The George Washington bridge freaks me out every time. But seriously that bridge over the Potomac predates reliable steel. SCARY.

[Jester2000]

Is anyone else shocked and appalled that an iron (truss) bridge from the 1800s is still carrying trains? Seriously? I'd like to think that we can do a little better than that in modern America. I thought we learned our lesson with the I-35 W bridge crossing the Mississippi.

The George Washington bridge freaks me out every time. But seriously that bridge over the Potomac predates reliable steel. SCARY.

Well, I would be shocked were that the case. But the bridge that's there now is a steel Pratt truss and plate girder bridge that was built in 1893. It's not iron -- that might have been the case with the previous bridge. And while not a park property, the current bridge is a National Register of Historic Places property, so they're not going to dismantle it. It doesn't carry commuter or Amtrak trains, and the B&O Valley line isn't even used much for freight.

For the majority of train traffic (including trains with people), "modern" America has done better -- that traffic uses the newer bridge built in the 1930s.

You should be able to see both existing bridges in the photo below. The one on the right is the newer bridge that carries most of the traffic. The one on the left is the older bridge that closes when we hit flood stage. To the left of that are the pilings from the 1851 bridge.

[veteran]

Did you know that the original railroad bridge at Harpers Ferry was covered?

1858 bridge

1860

1861 Confederate demolition