West End Bridge
West End Bridge | |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 40°26′47″N 80°01′37″W / 40.44631°N 80.02699°W |
| Carries | 4 lanes of US 19 2 pedestrian walkways |
| Crosses | Ohio River |
| Locale | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| Official name | Allegheny County Bridge No 3 Ohio River |
| Other name(s) | West End-North Side Bridge |
| Maintained by | PennDOT |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Tied-arch bridge |
| Material | Steel |
| Total length | 1,310.75 feet (399.52 m) (current configuration) 1,978.75 feet (603.12 m) (as built) |
| Width | 58 feet (18 m) |
| Longest span | 780 feet (240 m) |
| Piers in water | 1 |
| Clearance below | 66 feet (20 m) (current configuration) 73 feet (22 m) (as built) |
| History | |
| Construction cost | $3,640,000 |
| Opened | December 2, 1932 |
| Statistics | |
| Daily traffic | 32,000 |
| Designated | 1979 |
| Designated | 2001 |
| Location | |
The West End Bridge is a steel tied-arch bridge over the Ohio River in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) below the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers. It connects the West End to the Chateau neighborhood on the North Side of Pittsburgh.
The bridge was built from 1930 to 1932 primarily by the American Bridge Company (superstructure) and the Foundation Company (substructure). The bridge was designed by George S. Richardson. It was the longest tied-arch bridge in the world when completed, and just the second bridge to use tied-arch technology over a long span, after the Tacony–Palmyra Bridge (1929) in Philadelphia. The bridge was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 and the List of Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation Historic Landmarks in 2001. As of 2016, the bridge and its surrounding approaches are undergoing some major reconstruction.
The Riverlife Task Force conducted a competition in the spring of 2006 to design a pedestrian bridge across the Ohio attached to the West End Bridge. The goal of the competition was to create an iconic architectural element which ties both shore neighborhoods with the waterfronts while eliminating the need for pedestrians to cross traffic lanes and empty lots. The winning design was submitted by Endres Ware (now Endrestudio) in association with OLIN, Ammann & Whitney Archived 2006-02-03 at the Wayback Machine, Auerbach Glasow, and RWDI.