Reconstruction and Use
In 1893 the NYLE&W went bankrupt and was merged with the Erie Railroad, which became the owner of the bridge. By the start of the 20th century, locomotives were almost 85 percent heavier, and the iron bridge could no longer safely carry trains. The last traffic crossed the old bridge on May 14, 1900, and removal of the old iron began on May 24. Construction on the new steel bridge began on May 26, starting from both ends. Two Howe Truss "timber travelers", each 180 feet (55 m) long and 16 feet (4.9 m) deep, were used to build the new bridge. Each traveler was supported by two of the original towers on the opposite sides of a third original tower that was to be demolished. After the middle tower had been removed, construction of a new steel replacement tower and the spans adjoining it took one week. Then the traveler would move, and the next tower would be taken down and replaced.
The new bridge was designed by C.R. Grimm and was built by the Elmira Bridge Company out of 3,358 short tons (3,046 t) of steel. A crew of between 100 and 150 worked 10-hour days for four months to complete the steel frame by September 6, and the bridge reopened to traffic on September 25, 1900. Once rebuilt, the $275,000 bridge was able to safely accommodate one of the largest steam locomotives in the world, the 511-short-ton (464 t) Big Boy. The bolts used to hold the towers to the anchor blocks were reused from the first bridge, which played a major role in the bridge's demise. Some of the anchor bolts were also extended with tap bolts and threaded sleeves. Grimm later admitted that the bolts should have been replaced. The Erie Railroad maintained a station at the Kinzua Viaduct. Constructed between 1911 and 1916, the station was not manned by an agent. The station was gone between 1923 and 1927.
Train crews would sometimes play a trick on a brakeman on his first journey on the line. When the train was a short distance from the bridge, the crew would send the brakeman over the rooftops of the cars to check on a small supposed problem. As the train crossed the bridge, the rookie "suddenly found himself terrified, staring down three hundred feet from the roof of a rocking boxcar". Even after being reconstructed the bridge still had a speed limit of 5 miles per hour (8.0 km/h). As the bridge aged, heavy trains pulled by two steam locomotives had to stop so the engines could cross the bridge one at a time. Diesel locomotives were lighter and did not face this limit; the bridge was last used by a steam engine on October 5, 1950.
The Erie Railroad obtained trackage rights on the nearby Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) line in the late 1950s, which allowed it to bypass the aging Kinzua Bridge. Regular commercial service ended on June 21, 1959, and the Erie sold the bridge to the Kovalchick Salvage Company of Indiana, Pennsylvania, for $76,000. The bridge was reopened for one day in October 1959 when a wreck on the B&O line forced trains to be rerouted across the bridge. According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Kinzua Bridge "was a critical structure in facilitating the transport of coal from Northwestern Pennsylvania to the Eastern Great Lakes region, and is credited with causing an increase in coal mining that led to significant economic growth."
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