User:Caroig/Sandbox/Bridge

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Coordinates: 40°24′39″N 79°55′08″W / 40.41083, -79.91889
Homestead Grays Bridge
Pittsburgh-Homestead High Level Bridge
Truss bridge
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Official name: Homestead Grays Bridge
Named for: Homestead Grays
Country Flag of the United States United States
State Flag of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania
County Allegheny
Municipalities Pittsburgh, Homestead
Road Blue Belt 4 lanes
 - HOV 2 lanes
 - Sidewalks Each side
Crosses Monongahela River, CSX Railroad, Norfolk Southern Railroad
Coordinates 40°24′39″N 79°55′08″W / 40.41083, -79.91889
Length 3,750 ft (1,143 m)
 - Main span 516.3 ft (157 m)
Clearance 49.9 ft (15 m)
 - Navigational 109.3 ft (33 m) mid-span
Number of Spans 4
Design Wichert truss
Material Steel
Built 1936
 - Opened 1937
 - Reconstructed 1979
Maintained by Allegheny County
NBI Number 027301304723920
Location of the Homestead Grays Bridge in Pennsylvania
Location of the Homestead Grays Bridge in Pennsylvania
Location of Pennsylvania in the United States
Location of Pennsylvania in the United States
Wikimedia Commons: Homestead Grays Bridge

The Homestead Grays Bridge, also known as the Pittsburgh-Homestead High-Level Bridge, was built in 1936 and spans the Monongahela River between Homestead and Pittsburgh's Squirrel Hill neighborhood. It is notable as the first bridge to utilize the Wichert Truss, which uses a quadrilateral shape over each support. This made the truss statically determinate, so that forces in the structural members could be calculated.

On 11 July 2002, the bridge was officially renamed the Homestead Grays Bridge in honor of the Homestead Grays baseball team.

The bridge is currently in disrepair, and has not seen major work completed since 1979. Work began in January 2006 to rehabilitate the bridge. The deck was removed and the structure stripped down to the steel, then the steel was repaired and a new, wider deck was added, giving drivers three feet more space on each side and pedestrians a slightly wider sidewalk. Finally, historically-accurate railings and lighting will be restored and the bridge will be painted gray.

Bridge railing pattern
Bridge railing pattern


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