The Glenwood Bridge is a
cantilever bridge
A cantilever bridge is a bridge built using structures that project horizontally into space, supported on only one end (called cantilevers). For small footbridges, the cantilevers may be simple beams; however, large cantilever bridges designed ...
in
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 ...
, which carries
Pennsylvania Route 885
Pennsylvania Route 885 (PA 885) is a long north–south state highway in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It runs from Pennsylvania Route 837 in Clairton north to Interstate 579 in Pittsburgh. The route is entirely within Allegheny County and se ...
over 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-c ...
. It started construction on June 3, 1958. It was completed in 1966 to replace an old, decayed, unsafe iron bridge built in 1894, which carried
Pittsburgh Railways
Pittsburgh Railways was one of the predecessors of Pittsburgh Regional Transit. It had 666 PCC cars, the third largest fleet in North America (after Toronto (745) and Chicago (683)). It had 68 streetcar routes, of which only three (until April ...
streetcar tracks and vehicle traffic on a wooden deck.
History
Glenwood bridge (1894)
The original bridge was built by the Penn Bridge Company of Beaver Falls and carried trolley tracks between Pittsburgh and Homestead. It was later paved with wood to allow vehicle traffic to share the crossing. Permission was given by the Public Utilities Commission on November 8, 1962, for Pittsburgh Railways to convert trolley routes ''55 East Pittsburgh via Homestead and Braddock'' and ''98 Glassport'' to bus service, as the replacement bridge planned did not incorporate trolley tracks. Trolley service 55 across the bridge ended on July 4, 1964.
South interchange
At the southern end of the bridge is an expressway-style interchange with
Pennsylvania Route 837
Pennsylvania Route 837 (PA 837) is a state route located in western Pennsylvania. The southern terminus of the route is at Pennsylvania Route 88 in the Carroll Township hamlet of Wickerham Manor. The northern terminus is at U.S. Route 19 (US 19) ...
. This interchange was built for a spur of the canceled "East-West Expressway", which was at the proposal stage when the bridge was built.
BridgeMapper:Glenwood Bridge
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See also
*List of crossings of the Monongahela River
This is a complete list of current bridges and other crossings of the Monongahela River starting from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where the river helps to form the headwaters of the Ohio River, and ending in Fairmont, West Virginia, where the West F ...
References
{{Pittsburgh Bridges
Bridges in Pittsburgh
Bridges over the Monongahela River
Bridges completed in 1966
Road bridges in Pennsylvania
Cantilever bridges in the United States
Metal bridges in the United States