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High Bridge is a historic former railroad bridge across the Appomattox River valley about east, or downstream, of the town of Farmville in Prince Edward County, Virginia. The bridge was originally integral to the Southside Railroad between Petersburg and Lynchburg. As the site of the Battle of High Bridge in April 1865, the bridge played a pivotal role in Lee's retreat in the final days of the American Civil War – and ultimately the war's outcome. Rebuilt after the Civil War to its former dimensions, the 21-span structure was long at a maximum height of above the Appomattox River Valley – though is currently unusable for traffic. By 2005 its then-owner, Norfolk Southern, had abandoned the corridor, subsequently giving 33 miles of the line to the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR). High Bridge opened to the public on April 6, 2012, the 147th anniversary of the Battle of High Bridge. The remains of the bridge and its adjacent rail line are now a rail trail park, High Bridge Trail State Park, with a completed trail open to hiking, biking and horse back riding for 16 miles on either side of the former bridge. ==Design and construction== In the 1850s, the Southside Railroad built a rail line between Petersburg and Lynchburg, passing through Farmville between Burkeville and Pamplin City. The route, subsidized by a contribution from Farmville, required an expensive crossing of the Appomattox River valley, at a site near property known as Overton farm.〔 The site was surveyed and the bridge engineered by C.O. Sanford, who later reported to the stockholders of the Southside Railroad: "there have been higher bridges not so long, and longer bridges not so high, but taking the length and height together, this is, perhaps the largest bridge in the world." 〔(【引用サイトリンク】 publisher = High Bridge Battlefield Museum )〕 The High Bridge's twenty piers contained almost four million bricks, and supported a wooden superstructure with a pedestrian walkway beside the rail line – along with an adjacent wagon bridge (known also as the lower wagon bridge) — which would ultimately play a pivotal role in the outcome of the Civil War. The bridge itself was completed in 1852 and the full line was completed in 1854. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「High Bridge (Appomattox River)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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