The Fort Pitt Bridge is a steel, double-decked bowstring arch bridge that spans the

Monongahela River The Monongahela River ( , )—often referred to locally as the Mon ()—is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 river on the Allegheny Plateau in north-cen ...

near its confluence with the Allegheny River in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 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 ...

. It carries

Interstate 376 Interstate 376 (I-376) is a major auxiliary route of the Interstate Highway System in the US state of Pennsylvania, located within the Allegheny Plateau. It runs from I-80 near Sharon south and east to a junction with the Pennsylvania T ...

between the

Fort Pitt Tunnel The Fort Pitt Tunnel is a vehicular tunnel under Mount Washington in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It connects the West End region on the southwest side to the South Shore neighborhood on the northeast side. The adjoining Fort Pitt Bridge on the ...

and

Downtown Pittsburgh Downtown Pittsburgh, colloquially referred to as the Golden Triangle, and officially the Central Business District, is the urban downtown center of Pittsburgh. It is located at the confluence of the Allegheny River and the Monongahela River who ...

. Opened in June 1959 as a replacement for the Point Bridge, the Fort Pitt Bridge was the world's first computer-designed bowstring arch bridge and double-decked bowstring arch bridge. The bridge is known for its difficult lane changes, especially on the lower level, often requiring people to go from the extreme left lane across two lanes to the extreme right lane in only 300 feet. The upper level is more forgiving for some routes, but still requires a full span lane change in 300 feet to get from the south side entrance to the downtown exits.

History

The $6.305 million Fort Pitt Bridge, designed by George S. Richardson of Richardson, Gordon, & Associates, opened at 11 a.m. on June 19, 1959 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony by Gov. David L. Lawrence before a caravan, including Mayor Thomas Gallagher and mayoral candidate Joseph M. Barr, was driven across while a city fireboat gave a hose salute upriver. Its two predecessor bridges, the original Point Bridge (1877–1924) and its replacement of the same name (aka Point Bridge II, 1927–1959), spanned even closer to the aforementioned confluence from West Carson Street (near the

Duquesne Incline The Duquesne Incline () is a funicular located near Pittsburgh's South Side neighborhood and scaling Mt. Washington in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Designed by Hungarian-American engineer Samuel Diescher, the incline was completed ...

) to Water St. (now Fort Pitt Blvd.), near 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 ...

. The Point Bridge closed two days after the opening of the Fort Pitt Bridge, but remained standing until it was dismantled (along with the connected Manchester Bridge) in 1970. Until the opening of the Fort Pitt Tunnels on September 1, 1960, outbound traffic was routed onto West Carson St. (PA 837 North), heading towards the West End. At the time of opening, the bridge contained 8,066 tons of steel, 4,950 tons of structural carbon steel and 1,305 tons of steel reinforcing rods. The contractors included U.S. Steel's American Bridge Co., John F. Casey Co., Dinardo Inc., Fort Pitt Bridge Co., and J.C. Jackanic Inc.

Popular culture

The Fort Pitt Bridge is part of a sequence from '' The Song Remains the Same'' (1976), a documentary of

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

's 1973 tour. Many other Pittsburgh landmarks are also shown, including the Liberty Bridge and its

tunnels A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A Pipeline transport, pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used ...

. It also features prominently in the 2012 film '' The Perks of Being a Wallflower''. The bridge also appears in the 1993 film '' Striking Distance'' and the 2011 film '' Abduction''. The early promotional images for ''

The Last of Us ''The Last of Us'' is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. Players control Joel (The Last of Us), Joel, a smuggler tasked with escorting a teenage girl, Ellie (The Last of Us), Ell ...

'', used this bridge as a recognizable landmark to show that the game would be partially set in and around Pittsburgh. During the game, the characters use the bridge in the distance as a landmark for their destination out of the city.

References

External links

Fort Pitt Bridge at PGH Bridges.com
* {{Pittsburgh Bridges Bridges in Pittsburgh Bridges over the Monongahela River U.S. Route 22 U.S. Route 30 Bridges completed in 1959 Double-decker bridges Tied arch bridges in the United States Road bridges in Pennsylvania Interstate 76 (Ohio–New Jersey) 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

Popular culture

See also

References

External links