Bridge Bust

Wrightsville-Columbia, PA, October 1, 2011: The 23rd annual Bridge Bust was cold, blustery and pretty low market. The Susquehannah River was at flood stage, out of its second banks, and very muddy brown. It was a rough day for food vendors. Nobody wanted ice cream or cold drinks and not many wanted to stand out in the elements savoring the warm delicacies. We had intended to walk over and back but instead walked one way and then took the bus that shuttled between both ends of the 1-1/4 mile highway bridge (1930).

We parked at East York High School on a high point overlooking the Susquehannah Valley and took a shuttle to the Wrightsville entrance to the bridge:

By the time we were midway across the bridge, it was clear that most of the crowd was walking from east to west rather than west to east:

On the left the flood swamps the Susquehanna and Tidewater Canal; below are the piers to a former railroad bridge. During the Civil War, Union forces burned a bridge at this location as they retreated from York to Lancaster.