Last May, SEPTA contracted McCormick Taylor to provide its public involvement and communications expertise in the creation of a historical brochure and pamphlet to mitigate the loss of the Crum Creek Viaduct, located on SEPTA’s Media/Elwyn Regional Rail Line. Constructed in 1895, the Crum Creek Viaduct has reached the end of its useful life and is being replaced. Considered a 19th century icon of American railroad bridge design and engineering, the viaduct is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.
Since 2012, SEPTA has worked closely with the McCormick Taylor Communications team on many public involvement projects throughout the region. As design activities for the new viaduct were transitioning to the construction phase, McCormick Taylor was tasked with developing an extensive communications program, including a public relations campaign and project website. The website includes on-site web cameras that capture ongoing construction activities, as well as a popular time-lapse video of the new replacement span being moved into place.
McCormick Taylor also developed Historic Viaducts of the Media/Elwyn Regional Rail Line: Preserving Our Past and Engineering Our Future—which highlights the historic significance of former Crum Creek Viaduct as well as three other viaducts along the Media/Elwyn Regional Rail Line. The brochure contains a rich portrayal of the region’s transportation history through historic maps, architectural plans, and a historical timeline of events. Designed to educate, engage and inspire, the brochure and pamphlet will be displayed on the Swarthmore College campus, various rail stations on the Media/Elwyn Line, and in local libraries and historical societies.
SEPTA expanded McCormick Taylor’s assignment to include the design and fabrication of a sign to be placed along the Leiper-Smedley Trail. Running parallel to the I-476 right-of-way, the trail passes underneath the Crum Creek Viaduct, and connects Yale Road in Swarthmore Borough to Delaware County’s Smedley Trail. The trail sign will inform pedestrians and bicyclists of the former viaduct’s important history
