The Bloomington Viaduct spans the Northern Branch of the Potomac River

Potomac River

The Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. The river is approximately long, with a drainage area of about 14,700 square miles...

 connecting Bloomington, Maryland

Bloomington, Maryland

Bloomington is an unincorporated town at the confluence of the North Branch Potomac River and Savage River in southeastern Garrett County, Maryland...

 to Mineral County, West Virginia

Mineral County, West Virginia

Mineral County is a county located in the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is part of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of 2010, the population was 28,212. Its county seat is Keyser.-Ancient history:...

. The sandstone

Sandstone

Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...

 railroad bridge features three full center arches, each with a 56 foot (17 m) span and a 28 foot (8.5 m) rise. It is presently owned and operated by CSX Transportation

CSX Transportation

CSX Transportation operates a Class I railroad in the United States known as the CSX Railroad. It is the main subsidiary of the CSX Corporation. The company is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, and owns approximately 21,000 route miles...

 on its Mountain Subdivision

Mountain Subdivision

The Mountain Subdivision is a railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation in the U.S. states of Maryland and West Virginia. The line runs from Cumberland, Maryland west to Grafton, West Virginia along the original Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road main line...

.

History

When built in 1851, it carried a double track

Double track

A double track railway usually involves running one track in each direction, compared to a single track railway where trains in both directions share the same track.- Overview :...

 of the original Baltimore and Ohio Railroad

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad

The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was one of the oldest railroads in the United States and the first common carrier railroad. It came into being mostly because the city of Baltimore wanted to compete with the newly constructed Erie Canal and another canal being proposed by Pennsylvania, which...

 main line. In 1916 the viaduct was widened to accommodate two more tracks. The addition is a Melan-type reinforced concrete

Concrete

Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...

 bridge of identical configuration built against the south face of the original stone bridge. As the state boundary follows the southern bank of the Potomac, nearly all of the bridge is located in Garrett County, Maryland

Garrett County, Maryland

Garrett County is the westernmost county of the U.S. state of Maryland. Created from Allegany County, Maryland in 1872 it was the last Maryland county to be formed. It was named for John Work Garrett , railroad executive, industrialist, and financier. Garrett served as president of the Baltimore...

.

The Bloomington Viaduct was listed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

on November 21, 1976.

External links

• Bloomington Viaduct, Garrett County, including photo in 1975, at Maryland Historical Trust