Bridges of Pittsburgh

At least seventeen of Pittsburgh's bridges are visible in this aerial photo.

The Bridges of Pittsburgh play an important role in the city's transportation system. Without bridges, the Pittsburgh region would be a series of fragmented valleys, hillsides, river plains, and isolated communities.^[1]

A 2006 study^[2] determined that Pittsburgh has 446 bridges, and with its proximity to three major rivers and countless hills and ravines, Pittsburgh is known as "The City of Bridges". The city of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County are the largest owners of great bridges in the country, in proper proportion to their size, with the possible exception of the City of New York, which is built on an island and surrounded by large bodies of water.

According to a 2011 study by Transportation for America, 30 of Pittsburgh's bridges were deficient, the highest in the nation.^[3][4]

History

Pittsburgh's first river bridges, made of wood and long since replaced, opened in 1818 at Smithfield Street and 1819 at Sixth Street (then St. Clair Street). The city's oldest in-service bridge is the current Smithfield Street Bridge, which opened in 1883; it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976.^[5] Pittsburgh waged a massive road- and bridge-building campaign from 1924 to 1940; most of Pittsburgh's oldest major bridges date from this period. The coming of the Interstate Highway System triggered more construction in the second half of the twentieth century, as vehicular speed and throughput requirements increased. The result of more than 100 years of bridge building is a collection of most of the major types of bridge (suspension, cantilever, arch, etc.), mostly built from locally produced steel, including about forty river spans.

Many of the bridges in the Downtown area are colored Aztec Gold,^[6] either constructed as such or painted afterward, to match the city's official colors of black and gold. A few old and out-of-service bridges, such as the Hot Metal Bridge (which stood dormant until reopening as a passenger bridge in the year 2000), are exceptions to this rule.

Major bridges

This table lists all bridges crossing the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio rivers in the City of Pittsburgh limits.

Crossing	Carries	River	Image	Coordinates
Fort Pitt Bridge	I-376 / US 19 Truck / US 22 / US 30	Monongahela		40°26′20″N 80°00′40″W / 40.4388°N 80.0111°W
Smithfield Street Bridge	Smithfield Street	Monongahela		40°26′06″N 80°00′07″W / 40.4351°N 80.0020°W
Panhandle Bridge	Port Authority T Light Rail Line	Monongahela		40°25′59″N 79°59′53″W / 40.43306°N 79.99806°W
Liberty Bridge	Connects Liberty Tunnel to Downtown Pittsburgh	Monongahela		40°25′58″N 79°59′48″W / 40.4328°N 79.9968°W
South Tenth Street Bridge	South Tenth Street	Monongahela		40°25′57″N 79°59′21″W / 40.43250°N 79.98917°W
Birmingham Bridge	Connects Fifth and Forbes avenues to East Carson Street	Monongahela		40°26′00″N 79°58′25″W / 40.433361°N 79.973499°W
Hot Metal Bridge	Hot Metal Street	Monongahela		Part of the Great Allegheny Passage rail/bike trail.
Glenwood Bridge	PA 885	Monongahela
Glenwood B&O Railroad Bridge	Allegheny Valley Railroad	Monongahela
Homestead Grays Bridge (Homestead High Level Bridge) (The Bridge to Beer)	Blue Belt	Monongahela
Fort Duquesne Bridge	Interstate 279	Allegheny		40°26′39″N 80°00′33″W / 40.4443°N 80.0093°W
Roberto Clemente Bridge	6th Street	Allegheny		40°26′44″N 80°00′12″W / 40.4456°N 80.0033°W
Andy Warhol Bridge	7th Street	Allegheny		40°26′46″N 80°00′05″W / 40.44611°N 80.00139°W
Rachel Carson Bridge	9th Street	Allegheny		40°26′48″N 79°59′59″W / 40.4467°N 79.9998°W
Fort Wayne Railroad Bridge	Allegheny Valley Railroad, Capitol Limited (Amtrak train), Norfolk Southern Railway Fort Wayne Line	Allegheny		40°26′54″N 79°59′46″W / 40.4482°N 79.9962°W
Veterans Bridge	Interstate 579	Allegheny		40°27′00″N 79°59′36″W / 40.4499°N 79.9934°W
David McCullough Bridge	16th Street	Allegheny		40°27′06″N 79°59′27″W / 40.4517°N 79.9909°W
Herr's Island Railroad Bridge (West Penn Bridge) (rails removed, crosses back channel only)	Three Rivers Heritage Trail	Allegheny
30th Street Bridge (crosses back channel only)	30th Street	Allegheny
William Raymond Prom Memorial Bridge	31st Street	Allegheny		40°27′47″N 79°58′33″W / 40.4630°N 79.9758°W
33rd Street Railroad Bridge	Allegheny Valley Railroad P&W Subdivision	Allegheny		40°27′57″N 79°58′25″W / 40.4657°N 79.9736°W
Washington Crossing Bridge (40th Street Bridge)	40th Street	Allegheny		40°28′22″N 79°58′07″W / 40.4728°N 79.9686°W
Senator Robert D. Fleming Bridge (62nd Street Bridge)	PA Route 8	Allegheny		40°29′28″N 79°56′17″W / 40.4912°N 79.9381°W
Highland Park Bridge	Blue Belt	Allegheny		40°29′21″N 79°54′43″W / 40.4891°N 79.9120°W
Brilliant Branch Railroad Bridge	Allegheny Valley Railroad Brilliant Branch	Allegheny		40°29′12″N 79°54′19″W / 40.4866°N 79.9053°W
McKees Rocks Bridge	SR 3104 / Blue Belt	Ohio		40°28′38″N 80°02′54″W / 40.47722°N 80.04833°W
Ohio Connecting Railroad Bridge	Norfolk Southern Railway Fort Wayne Line	Ohio		40°27′46″N 80°02′35″W / 40.46278°N 80.04306°W
West End Bridge	U.S. Route 19	Ohio

Notable bridges

Fort Duquesne Bridge

West End Bridge

Smithfield Street Bridge (in 1984)

• The Fort Pitt Bridge is a steel bowstring arch bridge that spans the Monongahela River near its confluence with the Allegheny River at the point. It carries Interstate 376 between the Fort Pitt Tunnel and Point State Park.
• The Fort Duquesne Bridge is a steel tied arch bridge that spans the Allegheny River in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It carries Pennsylvania Route 65 / Interstate 279 (North Shore Expressway), which runs through Downtown Pittsburgh's Golden Triangle towards Interstate 79.
• The West End Bridge is a large steel arch bridge which crosses the Ohio River. It is the first bridge on the Ohio River heading toward the Mississippi River. The bridge carries U.S. Route 19.
• The Liberty Bridge crosses over the Monongahela River, intersecting Interstate 579 at its southern terminus.
• The Three Sisters are three parallel, nearly identical self-anchored suspension bridges that cross the Allegheny River at 6th, 7th, and 9th streets. The sisters have been recently renamed "The Three Siblings" (or Brobrosis), for prominent Pittsburgh residents: Roberto Clemente Bridge, Andy Warhol Bridge, and Rachel Carson Bridge.
• The Smithfield Street Bridge is a lenticular truss bridge crossing the Monongahela River. Its two main lenticular spans make the bridge very recognizable. It is a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark, according to a plaque on the bridge.
• The George Westinghouse Bridge crosses 240 feet above Turtle Creek Valley in East Pittsburgh.

See also

• Crossings of the Ohio River in Pennsylvania
• Crossings of the Allegheny River in Pennsylvania
• Crossings of the Monongahela River in Pennsylvania
• Bridges and tunnels in New York City

References

1. Kidney, Walter C. (1999). Pittsburgh's Bridges: Architecture and Engineering. Pittsburgh, PA: Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation. ISBN 978-0916670214.
2. "Just How Many Bridges Are There In Pittsburgh?". thePittsburghchannel.com. September 13, 2006. Retrieved January 30, 2010.
3. Schmitz, Jon (October 19, 2011). "Bridges in Pittsburgh labeled the worst". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved November 28, 2011.
4. "The Fix We’re In For: The State of Our Nation’s Busiest Bridges" (PDF). Metropolitan Bridge Rankings. Transportation for America. October 2011. Retrieved November 28, 2011.
5. "Listing of National Historic Landmarks by State: Pennsylvania" (PDF). National Park Service. June 2013. p. 5. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
6. http://www.pghcitypaper.com/pittsburgh/why-are-the-bridges-in-pittsburgh-painted-yellow/Content?oid=1335862

External links

• Bridges & Tunnels of Allegheny County and Pittsburgh, PA—Bruce S. Cridlebaugh's excellent, authoritative and exhaustive website
• Photos of Pittsburgh area bridges.—Extensive photo-documentation of several Pittsburgh bridges.
• "urbantraipsing.wordpress.com - pittsburgh bridges".—A documentation of walking many of the bridges of Pittsburgh.