Rosendale Trestle

Rosendale Trestle
The trestle in April 2011
Coordinates	41°50′36″N 74°05′18″W / 41.84333°N 74.08833°W / 41.84333; -74.08833
Carries	Wallkill Valley Rail Trail, formerly Wallkill Valley Railroad
Crosses	Rondout Creek New York State Route 213 Formerly the Delaware and Hudson Canal
Locale	Rosendale, New York, United States
Characteristics
Design	Post truss[1]
Material	Steel
Total length	940 feet (290 m)[2]
Width	6 ft (1,829 mm) (broad gauge)[1]
No. of spans	9
Clearance below	150 feet (46 m) above the water[3]
History
Constructed by	A. L. Dolby & Company Waston Manufacturing Company King Bridge Company
Fabrication by	Carnegie Steel Company
Construction start	1870
Construction end	1872
Inaugurated	April 6, 1872
Location

The Rosendale Trestle is a 940-foot (290-meter) continuous truss bridge and former railroad trestle in Rosendale Village, a hamlet in the town of Rosendale in Ulster County, New York. Originally constructed by the Wallkill Valley Railroad to continue its rail line from New Paltz to Kingston, the bridge rises 150 ft (46 m) above Rondout Creek, spanning both Route 213 and the former Delaware and Hudson Canal. Construction on the trestle began in late 1870, and continued until early 1872. When it opened to rail traffic on April 6, 1872, the Rosendale trestle was the highest span bridge in the United States.

The trestle was rebuilt in 1895 by the King Bridge Company to address public concerns regarding its stability, and it has been repeatedly reinforced throughout its existence. Concern over the sturdiness of the trestle has persisted since its opening, and was a major reason Conrail closed the Wallkill Valley rail line in 1977. After the rail line's closure, Conrail sold the bridge in 1986 for one dollar to John E. Rahl, a private area businessman, who tried unsuccessfully to operate the trestle as a bungee jumping platform in the 1990s. A similar attempt was made the following decade. The trestle was seized by the county in 2009 for tax nonpayment, and renovated as a pedestrian walkway for the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail. The deck and railings now continue all the way across the trestle, and access is from a parking lot about 1⁄4 mile (400 meters) north on Binnewater Road. It opened to the public with a celebration on June 29, 2013.