Mon–Fayette Expressway Bridge

Mon–Fayette Expressway Bridge
Coordinates	40°00′05″N 79°33′20″W / 40.0015°N 79.5556°WCoordinates: 40°00′05″N 79°33′20″W / 40.0015°N 79.5556°W
Carries	4 lanes of Pennsylvania Route 43
Crosses	Monongahela River
Locale	Luzerne Township and Centerville
Official name	Ronald C. "Smokey" Bakewell Bridge
Characteristics
Design	Girder bridge
Total length	3,022 feet (921 m)
Clearance below	200 feet (61 m)
History
Opened	July 6, 2013

The Mon–Fayette Expressway Bridge, officially the Ronald C. "Smokey" Bakewell Bridge is a high-level girder bridge that carries vehicular traffic across the Monongahela River between Luzerne Township in Fayette County, Pennsylvania and Centerville in Washington County, Pennsylvania.

The bridge was opened on July 6, 2012 and completed the southern section of Pennsylvania Route 43, more commonly known as the Mon–Fayette Expressway. Upon completion, motorists can now travel via freeway for 58 miles (93 km) between Morgantown, West Virginia and the Pittsburgh suburb of Jefferson Hills, Pennsylvania. The cost of the bridge project was $96 million.^[1] The total length of the bridge is 3,022 feet; 51,000 cubic yards of concrete were used to create the structure.^[2] In 2013, the Pennsylvania Legislature voted to name the bridge for Ronald C. "Smokey" Bakewell, a local serviceman killed during the Vietnam War.^[3]

References

1. http://www.paturnpike.com/Press/2012/20120712104023.htm
2. "Pfc. Ronald "Smokey" Bakewell Memorial Bridge". Wikimapia.org. Retrieved 2014-05-02.
3. "New Mon-Fayette bridge to honor soldier killed in Vietnam". Observer-Reporter. 2013-04-09. Retrieved 2014-05-02.