Editing Letchworth State Park (section)

===Portage Viaduct===
[[Image:Upper Falls in Letchworth 2.jpg|thumb|upright|Upper Falls with a train passing over the old Portage Viaduct]]
{{main|Portage Viaduct}}

The Portage Viaduct (1875) was an iron Erie Railroad bridge located upstream and within view of the park's Upper Falls. The bridge was {{convert|820|ft|m}} long and {{convert|240|ft|m}} high.<ref name=LSP_hist_Walker>{{cite web|url=http://www.letchworthparkhistory.com/walkerbacklist.html |title=Pieces of the Past - A Walker Stereocard Label circa 1875 |website=Exploring Letchworth Park History |first1=Tom |last1=Cook |first2=Tom |last2=Breslin |access-date=February 26, 2016}}</ref> Although walking on the structure was considered trespassing, visitors to the park commonly disregarded warning signs in order to view the gorge from the bridge, despite the safety concerns associated with walking on an active railroad bridge.<ref name=demolish>{{cite web |url=http://www.buffalonews.com/incoming/article651143.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120101035149/http://www.buffalonews.com/incoming/article651143.ece |archive-date=January 1, 2012 |title=Historic Letchworth bridge is on the edge of elimination |newspaper=The Buffalo News |date=November 27, 2011 |author=Sommer, Mark |access-date=February 27, 2016}}</ref>

On November 29, 2011, [[Norfolk Southern Railway]] announced plans to demolish the Portage Viaduct and build a new bridge approximately {{convert|75|ft|m}} to the south of the 1875 structure. Norfolk Southern had offered the old bridge to the State of New York, but the offer was declined due to a lack of available funds to convert the bridge into an observation platform.<ref name=demolish/> A steel arch design was approved for the bridge's replacement in late 2014, at an estimated cost of $71 million.<ref name=D&C_BridgeApprove>{{cite web |url=http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2014/12/30/new-railroad-bridge-approved-letchworth-park/21059581/ |title=New railroad bridge approved for Letchworth park |newspaper=Democrat and Chronicle |date=December 30, 2014 |author=McDermott, Meaghan M. |access-date=February 28, 2016}}</ref> The project was completed in late 2017.<ref>{{Cite web|last=SURTEL|first=MATT|title=Genesee Arch Bridge makes the big time|url=https://www.thelcn.com/news/local/genesee-arch-bridge-makes-the-big-time/article_e8cc5e4e-e3ed-5e91-8096-ee32b13a1961.html|access-date=2021-05-07|website=Livingston County News|language=en}}</ref> New train-activated gates at both ends of the new bridge now keep trespassing tourists off it when no approaching freight train is present.