The American Bridge Company is a heavy/civil construction firm that specializes in building and renovating bridges and other large, complex structures. Founded in 1900, the company is headquartered in
Coraopolis, Pennsylvania
Coraopolis () is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. The population was 5,559 at the 2020 census. In 1940, the population peaked at 11,086.
Coraopolis is located west of Pittsburgh along the Ohio River and to the east of the Pittsburg ...
, a suburb of
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...
. The firm has built many bridges in the U.S. and elsewhere; the
Historic American Engineering Record
Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) responsible for administering the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes ...
notes at least 81. American Bridge has also built or helped build the
Willis Tower
The Willis Tower (originally the Sears Tower) is a 108- story, skyscraper in the Loop community area of Chicago in Illinois, United States. Designed by architect Bruce Graham and engineer Fazlur Rahman Khan of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM ...
, the
Empire State Building, the
Chrysler Building
The Chrysler Building is an Art Deco skyscraper on the East Side of Manhattan in New York City, at the intersection of 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. At , it is the tallest brick building in the world with a steel fra ...
, launch pads, resorts, and more. During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, it produced
tank landing ships (LSTs) for the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
. In 2020, American Bridge Company was acquired by Southland Holdings LLC.
History
American Bridge Company was founded in April 1900, when
J.P. Morgan & Co. led a consolidation of 28 of the largest U.S. steel fabricators and constructors. The company's roots extend to the late 1860s, when one of the consolidated firms,
Keystone Bridge Company, built the
Eads Bridge
The Eads Bridge is a combined road and railway bridge over the Mississippi River connecting the cities of St. Louis, Missouri and East St. Louis, Illinois. It is located on the St. Louis riverfront between Laclede's Landing, to the north, and ...
at
St. Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
, the first steel bridge over the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...
and still in use. In 1902, the company became a subsidiary of
United States Steel
United States Steel Corporation, more commonly known as U.S. Steel, is an American integrated steel producer headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with production operations primarily in the United States of America and in several countries ...
as part of the Steel Trust consolidation.
The company pioneered the use of steel as a construction material; developing the means and methods for fabrication and construction that allowed it to be widely used in buildings, bridges, vessels, and other plate applications. It went on to do work across the nation and around the world.
During World War II, the company built warships for the U.S. Navy. In 1944, American painter
Thomas Hart Benton recorded the construction and launch of LST 768, producing numerous drawings and a painting, ''Cut the Line''.
The company went private in 1987 and was sold to
Continental Engineering Corporation
Continental Engineering Corporation (CEC; ) is a large Taiwanese construction company.
History
The company was originally founded by Glyn T. H. Ing in 1941 as Wei Dah Corporation in Chungking, Sichuan. In 1945, the company was restructured to be ...
in 1988.
The town of
Ambridge, Pennsylvania
Ambridge is a borough in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, United States. Incorporated in 1905 as a company town by the American Bridge Company, Ambridge is located 16 miles (25 km) northwest of Pittsburgh, along the Ohio River. The population wa ...
, was an American Bridge
company town (thus the name "Ambridge"), and is near their current headquarters of
Coraopolis, Pennsylvania
Coraopolis () is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. The population was 5,559 at the 2020 census. In 1940, the population peaked at 11,086.
Coraopolis is located west of Pittsburgh along the Ohio River and to the east of the Pittsburg ...
. Both municipalities are on the Ohio River near Pittsburgh, with access to many steel suppliers, as well as to waterborne and rail transport, to allow shipment of components and subassemblies.
Notable projects
This is a representative list, not an exhaustive one.
Bridges
* 1908
Puente Negro,
Culiacan, México
* 1926
Hercilio Luz Bridge
The Hercílio Luz Bridge, located in Florianópolis, the capital city of Santa Catarina, Brazil, Santa Catarina State in southern Brazil, is the first bridge constructed to link the Island of Santa Catarina (island), Santa Catarina to the mainlan ...
,
Florianópolis, Brazil
* 1927
Silver Bridge
The Silver Bridge was an eyebar-chain suspension bridge built in 1928 and named for the color of its aluminum paint. The bridge carried U.S. Route 35 over the Ohio River, connecting Point Pleasant, West Virginia, and Gallipolis, Ohio.
On Dec ...
,
Point Pleasant, West Virginia
Point Pleasant is a city in and the county seat of Mason County, West Virginia, United States, at the confluence of the Ohio and Kanawha Rivers. The population was 4,101 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Point Pleasant, ...
* 1936
Bay Bridge,
Oakland, California
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...
* 1939
Exchange Street Bridge,
Athol, Massachusetts
Athol is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 11,945 at the 2020 census.
History
Originally called Pequoiag when settled by Native Americans, the area was subsequently settled by five families in Sept ...
* 1957
Mackinac Bridge
The Mackinac Bridge ( ) is a suspension bridge spanning the Straits of Mackinac, connecting the Upper and Lower peninsulas of the U.S. state of Michigan. Opened in 1957, the bridge (familiarly known as "Big Mac" and "Mighty Mac") is the worl ...
,
Mackinac Straits,
Michigan
Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...
* 1961
Puente Hermanos Patiño,
Santiago, Dominican Republic
* 1964
Verrazano-Narrows Bridge
The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge ( ) is a suspension bridge connecting the New York City boroughs of Staten Island and Brooklyn. It spans the Narrows, a body of water linking the relatively enclosed New York Harbor with Lower New York Bay and t ...
,
New York Harbor
* 1997
Macarthur Causeway, Miami, Florida
* 2017
Genesee Arch Bridge,
Letchworth State Park
Letchworth State Park is a New York State Park located in Livingston County and Wyoming County in the western part of the State of New York. The park is roughly long, following the course of the Genesee River as it flows north through a dee ...
,
Portageville, New York
Portageville is a hamlet located in the town of Genesee Falls in Wyoming County, New York, United States. Its name derives from the Native American canoeists who would withdraw their craft from the river to avoid going over three waterfalls in th ...
Built the longest concrete segmental
cable stay bridge in the United States:
* 1986
Sunshine Skyway Bridge
The Bob Graham Sunshine Skyway Bridge, often referred to as the Sunshine Skyway Bridge or the Sunshine Skyway, consists of a pair of long beam bridges with a central cable-stayed bridge that spans Lower Tampa Bay to connect St. Petersburg, ...
,
Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater ...
, Florida
Built the longest suspension bridge in South America, and one of the longest in Europe:
* 1967
Orinoco Bridge, Venezuela
* 1966
April 25 Bridge, Lisbon, Portugal
Built the world's longest
arch bridge
An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side. A viaduct ...
on three occasions:
* 1977
New River Gorge Bridge
The New River Gorge Bridge is a steel arch bridge long over the New River Gorge near Fayetteville, West Virginia, in the Appalachian Mountains of the eastern United States. With an arch long, the New River Gorge Bridge was the world's longest sin ...
,
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...
, 518 meters, (1,700’)
* 1932
Bayonne Bridge
Bayonne Bridge is an arch bridge spanning the Kill Van Kull and connecting Bayonne, New Jersey with Staten Island in New York City. It carries New York State Route 440 (NY 440) and New Jersey Route 440. It is the sixth-longes ...
,
Staten Island-
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
, 504 meters (1,652’)
* 1916
Hell Gate Bridge
The Hell Gate Bridge, originally the New York Connecting Railroad Bridge or the East River Arch Bridge, is a steel through arch railroad bridge in New York City. Originally built for four tracks, the bridge currently carries two tracks of Amtr ...
, New York City, 298 meters (978’)
Built the world's longest self-supporting continuous
truss bridge
A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss, a structure of connected elements, usually forming triangular units. The connected elements (typically straight) may be stressed from tension, compression, or ...
:
* 1966
Astoria Bridge,
Oregon
Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...
, 376 meters (1,232’)
Renovations of existing bridges:
* 1995 Moved an existing
Norfolk Southern
The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31, ...
vertical lift bridge
A vertical-lift bridge or just lift bridge is a type of movable bridge in which a span rises vertically while remaining parallel with the deck.
The vertical lift offers several benefits over other movable bridges such as the bascule and sw ...
from
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...
, Alabama, to
Hannibal, Missouri
Hannibal is a city along the Mississippi River in Marion and Ralls counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 17,312, making it the largest city in Marion County. The bulk of the city is in Mar ...
,
* 1998 First aerial spinning for additional main cables on a loaded, fully operational suspension bridge. April 25 Bridge in Lisbon, Portugal
* 2001 First stiffening truss replacement on a loaded, fully operational suspension bridge.
Lions Gate Bridge
The Lions Gate Bridge, opened in 1938 and officially known as the First Narrows Bridge, is a suspension bridge that crosses the first narrows of Burrard Inlet and connects the City of Vancouver, British Columbia, to the North Shore municipal ...
, Vancouver,
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
, Canada
* 2002
, in a joint venture with
Fluor Corporation
Fluor Corporation is an American multinational engineering and construction firm headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is a holding company that provides services through its subsidiaries in the following areas: oil and gas, industrial and infrastruc ...
,
American Bridge-Fluor.
Buildings
Built the world's tallest building on numerous occasions.
* 1930
Chrysler Building
The Chrysler Building is an Art Deco skyscraper on the East Side of Manhattan in New York City, at the intersection of 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. At , it is the tallest brick building in the world with a steel fra ...
, New York City
* 1930
Woolworth Building
The Woolworth Building is an early skyscraper, early American skyscraper designed by architect Cass Gilbert located at 233 Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the Tribeca neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It was the tallest building in ...
, New York City
* 1932
Empire State Building, New York City
* 1974
Willis Tower
The Willis Tower (originally the Sears Tower) is a 108- story, skyscraper in the Loop community area of Chicago in Illinois, United States. Designed by architect Bruce Graham and engineer Fazlur Rahman Khan of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM ...
, Chicago
Built many other well-known buildings.
* 1902
Flatiron Building, New York City
* 1969
John Hancock Center
The John Hancock Center is a 100- story, 1,128-foot supertall skyscraper located in Chicago, Illinois. Located in the Magnificent Mile district, the building was officially renamed 875 North Michigan Avenue in 2018.
The skyscraper was designed ...
, Chicago
* 1969
John Hancock Tower
200 Clarendon Street, previously John Hancock Tower and colloquially known as The Hancock, is a 60-story, skyscraper in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston. It is the tallest building in New England. The tower was designed by Henry N. Cobb of ...
,
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
* 1971
U.S. Steel Tower,
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...
* 1971
Disney's Contemporary Resort,
Orlando
Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures re ...
* 1973
Aon Center, Chicago
* 1975
Columbia Center
The Columbia Center, formerly named the Bank of America Tower and Columbia Seafirst Center, is a skyscraper in downtown Seattle, Washington, United States. The 76-story structure is the tallest building in Seattle and the state of Washington, r ...
,
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
Built the world's largest building by volume twice.
* 1966
Vehicle Assembly Building
The Vehicle Assembly Building (originally the Vertical Assembly Building), or VAB, is a large building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC), designed to assemble large pre-manufactured space vehicle components, such as the massive Saturn V and th ...
,
Titusville
* 1967
Boeing Everett Factory
The Boeing Everett Factory is an airplane assembly facility built by Boeing in Everett, Washington, United States. It sits at the northeast corner of Paine Field and includes the largest building in the world by volume at 13,385,378 m3 (472,37 ...
,
Everett
Built two of the most notable domed stadium structures in the world
* 1964
Houston Astrodome
The NRG Astrodome, also known as the Houston Astrodome or simply the Astrodome, is the world's first multi-purpose, domed sports stadium, located in Houston, Texas. It was financed and assisted in development by Roy Hofheinz, mayor of Houston ...
* 1974
Louisiana Superdome
The Caesars Superdome, commonly known as the Superdome (formerly known as Mercedes-Benz Superdome), is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the home stadium of the New Orleans Saints ...
Miscellaneous
*Space launch complex jacking for
McDonnell Douglas
McDonnell Douglas was a major American aerospace manufacturing corporation and defense contractor, formed by the merger of McDonnell Aircraft and the Douglas Aircraft Company in 1967. Between then and its own merger with Boeing in 1997, it pro ...
Astronautics (now
Boeing
The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and p ...
) (1994)
*Built bottom framework for the unique, modular room units for
Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
at the
Contemporary Resort in Walt Disney World (1971).
*Hammerhead Crane, 350ton Cantilever type, (
Norfolk Naval Shipyard), (1940)
*Hunters Point Gantry Crane, world's largest, 460 ton capacity, (
Hunters Point Naval Shipyard
The Hunters Point Naval Shipyard was a United States Navy shipyard in San Francisco, California, located on of waterfront at Hunters Point in the southeast corner of the city.
Originally, Hunters Point was a commercial shipyard established ...
), (1947)
*
Matterhorn Bobsleds
Matterhorn Bobsleds are a pair of intertwined steel roller coasters at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. It is modeled after the Matterhorn, a mountain in the Alps on the border between Switzerland and Italy. It is the first known tubular steel ...
in
Disneyland
Disneyland is a theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney initially envision ...
, the steel structure inside the mountain, used 2,175 steel pieces.
See also
*
Cardwell v. American Bridge Co.
*
Continental Engineering Corporation
Continental Engineering Corporation (CEC; ) is a large Taiwanese construction company.
History
The company was originally founded by Glyn T. H. Ing in 1941 as Wei Dah Corporation in Chungking, Sichuan. In 1945, the company was restructured to be ...
Notes
External links
Company information
Hoovers fact sheet on ABC
Projects and history
HAER record of at least 81 ABC bridges/projectsAmerican Bridge Company Chronological historyfrom the company site
Old Economy Village history pagewith American Bridge Company history.
News article on American Bridge legacyAnother article on legacy.
{{Authority control
Construction and civil engineering companies of the United States
Construction and civil engineering companies established in 1900
Bridge companies
1900 establishments in Pennsylvania
American companies established in 1900