Columbia Railroad Bridge is a 1920 concrete arch bridge

Arch bridge

An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side...

 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...

 that carries CSX Trenton Subdivision

Trenton Subdivision

The Trenton Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation in the U.S. states of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The line runs from Park Junction in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania northeast to Manville, New Jersey along a former Reading Company line....

 rail lines over the Schuylkill River

Schuylkill River

The Schuylkill River is a river in Pennsylvania. It is a designated Pennsylvania Scenic River.The river is about long. Its watershed of about lies entirely within the state of Pennsylvania. The source of its eastern branch is in the Appalachian Mountains at Tuscarora Springs, near Tamaqua in...

. It is located in Fairmount Park

Fairmount Park

Fairmount Park is the municipal park system of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It consists of 63 parks, with , all overseen by the Philadelphia Department of Parks and Recreation, successor to the Fairmount Park Commission in 2010.-Fairmount Park proper:...

, upstream from the Pennsylvania Railroad Connecting Bridge

Pennsylvania Railroad Connecting Bridge

Pennsylvania Railroad, Connecting Railway Bridge is a stone arch bridge in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that carries Amtrak Northeast Corridor and SEPTA commuter rail lines over the Schuylkill River. It is located in Fairmount Park, just upstream from the Girard Avenue Bridge.It is also known as...

. It is also known as Columbia Bridge.

First bridge

The first bridge was erected by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1834. It had seven spans, and was constructed of white pine

White Pine

-Trees:* Trees in the pine subgenus Pinus subgenus Strobus** Eastern White Pine , one of these species, native to northeastern North America...

 as a covered bridge for the Philadelphia & Columbia Railroad. A inclined plane on the bridge's west side drew the railway cars up Belmont Hill by cable. The Philadelphia & Reading Railroad bought this bridge from the state in 1851.

Second bridge

The second bridge was erected in 1886 by the Reading Railroad to carry the increasingly heavy freight traffic. It was a two track wrought iron Pratt truss bridge, in service until 1920.

Current bridge

The current bridge was completed in 1920 with two tracks, and two more were added in 1921, but now there are only two tracks on this bridge.