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The Piedmont and Northern
Railroad / Southern Railroad Bridge
The Piedmont and Northern Railroad / Southern
Railroad bridge is located in the Third Ward section of Charlotte,
between the Bank of America football stadium and Cedar Street. The
bridge was built around 1912 and allowed the Southern Railroad to pass
over the newly constructed P&N rail line, an electric railroad that ran
from Charlotte to Mt. Holly in Gaston County. In the early 20th century
the area to the west of the bride was a largely industrial and
commercial in nature, with a foundry, a rail yard, and warehouses. In
recent years many of these buildings have been converted to offices and
retail uses. To the east of the bridge stood the Good Samaritan
Hospital, which has been replaced by the stadium. Also to the east of
the bridge, closer to the center of the city, were the freight and
passenger stations for the P&N Railroad, which have also been
demolished. Today the area to the east of the bridge contains several
early twentieth century commercial buildings. |
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The P&N/SRR Bridge rests on concrete footings. Like
all of the concrete work associated with the bridge, the impressions of
the lumber forms, including the knots and grains of the wood, is evident
in the surface of the material, which is typical for early 20th-century
concrete work. Also typical for early concrete work is the large rough
aggregate visible in the material. Tall concrete retaining walls
separated the P&N roadbed from the bridge foundation. The retaining
walls are well finished, parged smooth and topped with a substantial cap
with moulded quarter-round edges. The bridge rests on six massive steel
girders, approximately three feet in depth. Each girder is constructed
of two metal channels, riveted together with metal plates. It appears
that the bridge carried three sets of tracks. Each track was supported
by two of the girders, which were connected to each other by "X’ braces
formed by riveted steel channel. A concrete deck was poured over the
metal work, and the impressions of the lumber forms are visible.
Triangular braces made of riveted metal angle, extend from the sides of
the bridge. The braces on the east side of the bridge support a metal
walkway. Braces on the west side of the bridge supported a wooden plank
walkway, now deteriorated. Faded lettering on the west side of the
bridge spelled out "Southern Railroad" for the benefit of the P&N crews
passing under the bridge.
Access to the rail bed is restricted. It appears that
the bridge has not been used for many years and bushes and vines are now
growing in the rail bed and hanging over the sides of the bridge. The
original bridge is now literally dwarfed by a more recent SRR bridge,
just to the west. The newer bridge is supported by two massive concrete
trestles supporting a steel and concrete deck.
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