Perhaps a reader will find this interesting --
The extension of the railroad from Great Neck to Manhasset and Port Washington in 1897 meant that a trestle bridge had to be constructed over the marsh at the end of Manhasset Bay. Building this bridge was the subject of considerable thought in the early 1890's; engineers were fearful of quicksand and marshland in the Valley. Finally in 1897, a contract was given to the Carnegie Steel Company and a subsidiary, the King Iron Company, undertook the job of constructing the bridge.
A huge stone arch was built above Shore Road on the Great Neck side over which the railroad line would pass. That narrow arch, constricting the width of the road at the point became a headache for traffic engineers and was removed 40 years ago. The narrow underpass on the Manhasset side remains a hazard for the unwary driver.
While sinking piles for the abutment on the Great Neck side near Shore Road the workmen struck bubbling springs, the largest of which covered ten square feet. (note the Water Works adjecent to the west abutment today, with its arteasian wells - Clem) One hundred and forty-five vertical piles were driven into the ground and sixty-six inclined piles were driven to resist the thrust of the filling placed back of the abutment. The concrete base is thirty-two feet wide, thirty-one feet long and fourteen feet thick. All the excavation was done by steam shovels; donkeys and horses pulled the heavy dump carts through the woods and swamps. Huge cranes lifted red iron girders to the top of the bridge where they were riveted into place.
The cost of the bridge was said to be $60,000. The first train ran over it on June 23, 1898. Eighty-one feet high and six hundred seventy-eight feet and one inch long it was a fit setting for a suspense movie. In fact, scenes from breathtaking old movie serial "The Perils of Pauline" were shot on the Manhasset Trestle in the hey-day of the silent films.
- from Manhasset.org
