Forces of Nature

A DCNR inspection in 2002 deemed the viaduct unsafe, and it was closed to all traffic. Restoration work was well underway when, on July 21, 2003, severe weather sent the crew scrambling for shelter. Just after 3:15 p.m., an F1 tornado hit Kinzua Bridge State Park, and the viaduct's 120-year-old anchor bolts snapped under the powerful winds. In two minutes, 11 steel towers lay in a twisted tangle on the valley floor. Today, the DCNR manages this area to allow smaller plants and grasses to thrive while preventing larger shrubs and trees from obscuring the view of the debris field, which has become home to plants and animals.

Pennsylvania · United States