Pittsburgh bridges
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Pittsburgh has more bridges than any other city in the United States—446 in total, and some claim it has the most in the world. However, Hamburg, Germany is also stated to have the most bridges of any city in the world. What constitutes a true bridge (length, etc) is part of what causes this discrepancy. [1]. The city's proximity to three major rivers and countless hills and ravines has led to its becoming known as the City of Bridges.
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[edit] 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. 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.
Almost all of the bridges in the Downtown area are Aztec Gold[clarify], either constructed as such or painted afterwards, 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.
[edit] Notable bridges
- 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 279 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 a half moon[clarify] through Downtown Pittsburgh's Golden Triangle and north and south towards Interstate 79.
- The West End Bridge, is a large steel arch bridge which crosses the Ohio River, and is the first bridge on the Ohio River heading toward the Mississippi River. The bridge carries U.S. Route 19.
- The Liberty Bridge, which crosses over the Monongahela River, and intersects 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 bridges have been recently renamed 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, and 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.
[edit] See also
- Crossings of the Ohio River in Pennsylvania
- Crossings of the Allegheny River in Pennsylvania
- Crossings of the Monongahela River in Pennsylvania
[edit] 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.
