The Wilmington Rail Viaduct is a series of fills and bridges, about 4mi long, that carry the Northeast Corridor through the city of Wilmington, Delaware above street level. Constructed between 1902 and 1908, the structure consists principally of fills supported by heavy stone retaining walls, punctuated with plate girder bridges over streets, and augmented by a few sections of brick arch viaduct. Its construction is typical of the Pennsylvania Railroad's architectural practices at the time, and the viaduct has been documented by the Historic American Engineering Record and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Built by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) as part of a series of grade crossing eliminations along the Northeast Corridor, the elevation of the rail line necessitated several other changes to rail infrastructure in Wilmington, including the construction of the Wilmington Shops at the east end of the viaduct, and the construction of the Wilmington Station and adjacent Pennsylvania Railroad Office Building along the elevated right-of-way.Physical descriptionThe viaduct extends from Vandever Avenue, on its east end, across the Brandywine Creek and then roughly parallel to the Christina River through Wilmington Station. The west end of the viaduct is adjacent to the Alban Park neighborhood of Wilmington, an area also known as West Yard.
