The Fort Duquesne Bridge is a steel

bowstring arch bridge A tied-arch bridge is an arch bridge in which the outward horizontal forces of the arch(es) caused by tension at the arch ends to a foundation are countered by equal tension of its own gravity plus any element of the total deck structure such grea ...

that spans the

Allegheny River The Allegheny River ( ) is a long headwater stream of the Ohio River in western Pennsylvania and New York. The Allegheny River runs from its headwaters just below the middle of Pennsylvania's northern border northwesterly into New York then i ...

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. It was colloquially referred to as "

The Bridge to Nowhere ''The Bridge to Nowhere'' is an independent 2009 crime drama written by Christopher Gutierrez, directed by Blair Underwood in his directorial debut. Plot Kevin, Brian, Chris, Darick and Eddie are childhood friends from a working-class neighbor ...

History

The bridge was constructed from 1958-1963 by

PennDOT The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) oversees transportation issues in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The administrator of PennDOT is the Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation, currently Yassmin Gramian. Presently, P ...

, and opened for traffic October 17, 1969 with its predecessor Manchester Bridge (located closer to the tip of

Point State Park Point State Park (locally known as The Point) is a Pennsylvania state park on in Downtown Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA, at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, forming the Ohio River. Built on land acqu ...

) closing that same day (it was demolished in the autumn of 1970). The bridge was given the name "The Bridge to Nowhere" because the main span was finished in 1963, but due to delays in acquiring right of ways for the northern approach ramps, it did not connect on the north side of the Allegheny River. The total cost was budgeted at $5 million in 1962. The lack of approach ramps meant the bridge ended in midair, rendering it useless. Pittsburgh -

On December 12, 1964, Frederick Williams, a 21-year-old chemistry major at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...

from

Basking Ridge, New Jersey Basking Ridge is an unincorporated community located within Bernards Township in the Somerset Hills region of Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the population for the ZIP Code Tabulation Area (ZCTA) 07920 w ...

, drove his 1959

Chrysler Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automotiv ...

station wagon A station wagon ( US, also wagon) or estate car ( UK, also estate), is an automotive body-style variant of a sedan/saloon with its roof extended rearward over a shared passenger/cargo volume with access at the back via a third or fifth door ( ...

through the bridge's wooden barricades, raced off the end of the bridge, and landed upside-down but unhurt on the other side, 190 feet away at the north bank of the Allegheny River. His adventure is documented in WQED-TV's double Mid-Atlantic region

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

-winning documentary "Flying off the Bridge to Nowhere and Other Tales of Pittsburgh Bridges", narrated by Rick Sebak. Within a few weeks of this near tragedy, an iconic Pittsburgh radio personality, Rege Cordic, distributed commemorative bumper stickers which read "Official Entry, Cordic & Company Bridge Leap Contest." With thousands of vehicles bearing these stickers on Pittsburgh's streets, the city responded by blocking off the end of the bridge with concrete barriers. The northwestern ramps were completed in 1969, allowing access to

Pennsylvania Route 65 Pennsylvania Route 65 (PA 65, also known as the 65th Infantry Division Memorial Highway), is a major state highway located in western Pennsylvania, United States. The route, traveling north–south from the Interstate 279/ U.S. Route 19 Truck ( ...

, while the northeastern ramps were completed in 1986, with the construction of the northern section of Interstate 279 (

North Shore Expressway Interstate 279 (I-279), locally referred to as Parkway North, is a north–south auxiliary Interstate Highway that lies entirely within Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. Its southern end is at I-376 at the Fort Pitt Bridge in Pittsburgh, and ...

) which runs through Downtown Pittsburgh's

Golden Triangle Golden Triangle may refer to: Places Asia * Golden Triangle (Southeast Asia), named for its opium production * Golden Triangle (Yangtze), China, named for its rapid economic development * Golden Triangle (India), comprising the popular tourist ...

and north towards

Interstate 79 Interstate 79 (I-79) is an Interstate Highway in the eastern United States, designated from I-77 in Charleston, West Virginia, north to Pennsylvania Route 5 (PA 5) and PA 290 in Erie, Pennsylvania. It is a primary thoroughfar ...

. The bridge touches down halfway between Heinz Field and

PNC Park PNC Park is a baseball stadium on the North Shore of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is the fifth home of the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball (MLB). It was opened during the 2001 MLB season, after the controlled implosion of the Pira ...

Baseball Stadium on the City's North Shore.

References

External links

Fort Duquesne Bridge at Pghbridges.com
{{Pittsburgh Bridges Bridges to nowhere Bridges in Pittsburgh Bridges over the Allegheny River Tied arch bridges in the United States Road bridges in Pennsylvania Interstate 79 U.S. Route 19 Bridges on the Interstate Highway System Bridges of the United States Numbered Highway System Steel bridges in the United States

History

See also

References

External links