Highland Park Bridge

Highland Park Bridge
Coordinates	40.4891°N 79.9120°W / 40.4891; -79.9120
Carries	4 lanes of traffic
Crosses	Allegheny River
Locale	Pittsburgh and Aspinwall
Characteristics
Design	Truss bridge
Longest span	266 feet (81 m)
Clearance below	50 feet (15 m)
History
Designer	Sidney Shubin
Construction start	November 6, 1937
Opened	June 22, 1939
Location

The Highland Park Bridge is a truss bridge that carries vehicular traffic across the Allegheny River between the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Highland Park and the suburb of Aspinwall.

It replaced a much narrower 1902 streetcar bridge that was ill-equipped to handle heavy commuter traffic, as part of the process of suburbanization in the hills northeast of the city.

History

The bridge was designed by Sidney A. Shubin, chief bridge design engineer of Allegheny County, who also designed the South Tenth Street Bridge and Homestead High Level Bridge. Construction of the bridge began on November 6, 1937 and was completed in June 1939. The bridge cost $2.5 million to construct and was opened on June 22, 1939. Two workers were killed during the construction on October 14, 1938 when a 68-ton crane fell from the bridge.

In 1963, the bridges approaches was reconstructed this was done to allow it to serve an exit with PA 28. 23 years later, the near 50 year old bridge was rehablaitated to extended its useful life.

See also

• List of crossings of the Allegheny River

External links

• Media related to Highland Park Bridge at Wikimedia Commons
• Highland Park Bridge at Pghbridges.com