{"nrhp_refnum":"76001370","name":"B & O Railroad Viaduct","other_names":["Bellaire Viaduct"],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"31st St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Bellaire","county":"Belmont County","state":"OH","lat":40.013241393000044,"lon":-80.74413910999994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1976-06-22","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Engineering","Transportation"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 43-arch cut-stone railroad viaduct running parallel to 31st Street in downtown Bellaire, Belmont County, Ohio, completed in June 1871 as the approach to the B & O Railroad's Ohio River bridge.","why_significant":"The viaduct was a vital link in B & O rail traffic to the West and Chicago. It is valued for its graceful design and its scale of masonry construction. It was also designed by two noted bridge engineers, Wendell Bollman and Jacob Hayes Linville.","narrative":"Forty-three semi-circular stone arches carry a single railroad track through downtown Bellaire, Ohio, crossing Guernsey, Belmont, Union and Crescent Streets. Completed in June 1871, the viaduct runs about three-quarters of a mile in a curve and forms the approach to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's steel truss bridge over the Ohio River toward Benwood, West Virginia. Each arch spans about 33 feet between piers, and the structure rises roughly 35 feet. It was built of native cut stone, using tens of thousands of cubic yards of masonry. The line opened a key rail connection toward Chicago and the West. Engineers Wendell Bollman and Jacob Hayes Linville, both well-known bridge builders, were in charge of the work. The stone has darkened with age, and some arches have been coated with sprayed mortar, yet the structure has changed little and still carries daily traffic. It was listed for its beauty of design and for its builders' reputations.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"Wendell Bollman & Jacob Hayes Linville","architectural_style":"Roman arch stone viaduct","criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as still in good condition, little changed since 1871, and still carrying daily rail traffic; some arches have been encased with sprayed mortar.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:09.097901-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/76001370.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76001370/361ce42418-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76001370/361ce42418-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"Bwsmith84 (talk) at en.wikipedia","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bellaire_viaduct_01.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Bwsmith84 (talk) at en.wikipedia</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bellaire_viaduct_01.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71986825","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B_%26_O_Railroad_Viaduct","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4836934"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/belmont-county/b-and-o-railroad-viaduct-76001370/"}