 The High Bridge's twenty piers contained almost four million bricks, and supported a wooden superstructure with a pedestrian walkway beside the rail line – along with an adjacent wagon bridge (known also as the lower wagon bridge) — which would ultimately play a pivotal role in the outcome of the Civil War.The bridge itself was completed in 1852 and the full line was completed in 1854.The Southside Railroad was heavily damaged during the American Civil War.