Walnut Street Bridge (Harrisburg)

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Walnut Street Bridge
The People's Bridge.
Carries	Pedestrians
Crosses	Susquehanna River
Locale	Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Maintained by	PENNDOT
Design	Wrought iron truss bridge
Longest span	240 feet
Total length	2801 feet
Opening date	1890

The Walnut Street Bridge also known as The People's Bridge, is a truss bridge that spans the Susquehanna River in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Built by the Phoenix Bridge Company in 1890, it is the oldest remaining bridge connecting Harrisburg's downtown and Riverfront Park with the West Shore.

1 History
- 1.1 1996 Collapse
2 References
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] History

The bridge was built to break the toll monopoly enjoyed by the neighboring Camelback Bridge (now the Market Street Bridge). The Walnut Street Bridge was closed to motor vehicles and converted to a pedestrian and bikeway link to City Island after the 1972 Hurricane Agnes flood. The eastern span of the bridge is outlined in lights which, along with the City Island facilities, create a dynamic visual effect at night. The 2,801 foot (854 m) span is one of the longest pedestrian bridges in the world. The conversion to pedestrian use gave the bridge a new purpose and it is used by over a million visitors, tourists and residents annually. The bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972 and is also recognized as a Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.

[edit] 1996 Collapse

Western span of the Walnut Street Bridge in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania after it collapsed during the 1996 flood.

In January 1996 the Walnut Street bridge lost two of its seven western spans when high floodwaters and a large ice floe lifted the spans off their foundations and swept them down the river[1]. A third span was damaged and later collapsed into the river. Shortly after the loss of the three western spans, the Peoples Bridge Coalition was formed to support the restoration of the bridge. Public surveys show overwhelming support for the restoration of the western spans. It is estimated that restoring the western span of the bridge will cost between $12-15 million dollars (December 2005).

The Walnut Street Bridge continues to be a popular pedestrian walkway in nice weather.

Shortly after the 1996 collapse, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation contracted Modjeski and Masters, Inc. to perform an inspection and analysis to prevent the possibility of future collapse of the remaining structure. A $5 million rehabilitation project was later conducted on the eastern span of the bridge. The rehabilitation project was performed by IA Construction Corporation of Concordville, PA. Now the eastern section of the bridge from Harrisburg to City Island is open to the public.

[edit] References

Walnut Street Bridge collapse 1996: Northwestern University
Jackson, Donald C. (1984). Great American Bridges and Dams. John Wiley & Sons, New York (USA). ISBN 0-471-14385-5.
Walnut Street Bridge. ASCE History and Heritage of Civil Engineering. Retrieved on 2006-07-04.