__NOTOC__ Rachel Carson Bridge, also known as the Ninth Street Bridge, spans the Allegheny River in Downtown

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 ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. The total length is including the main span and two side spans, or including the approaches. The total width of the deck is , including the roadway plus two sidewalks outside the compressive plate girder. Whereas the roadway formerly carried two vehicle lanes and two streetcar tracks, it was changed to carry four wide vehicle lanes. The 2019-2020 refurbishment reduced the lanes to three. Named for the naturalist and author

Rachel Carson Rachel Louise Carson (May 27, 1907 – April 14, 1964) was an American marine biologist, writer, and conservationist whose influential book '' Silent Spring'' (1962) and other writings are credited with advancing the global environmental ...

, a Pittsburgh native, it is one of three parallel bridges called the Three Sisters, the others being the Roberto Clemente Bridge and the Andy Warhol Bridge. The Three Sisters are

self-anchored suspension bridge A self-anchored suspension bridge is a suspension bridge type in which the main cables attach to the ends of the deck, rather than directly to the ground or via large anchorages. The design is well-suited for construction atop elevated piers, o ...

s and are significant because they are the only trio of nearly identical bridges—as well as the first self-anchored suspension spans—built in the United States.

History

The bridge was dedicated and opened at a noon ceremony with Commissioner Babcock, Mayor Kline, and city council members including Herron and McArdle. The cost of construction was $1.46 million or $ in terms. The bridge was renamed on Earth Day, April 22, 2006, after years of lobbying by Esther Barazzone, president of

Chatham University Chatham University is a private university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Originally founded as a women's college, it began enrolling men in undergraduate programs in 2015. It enrolls about 2,110 students, including 1,002 undergraduate students an ...

, the alma mater of the renowned

environmentalist An environmentalist is a person who is concerned with and/or advocates for the protection of the environment. An environmentalist can be considered a supporter of the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that se ...

. Carson was born in 1907 in

Springdale, Pennsylvania Springdale is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, northeast of Pittsburgh along the Allegheny River. The population was 3,405 at the 2010 census. Geography Springdale is located at (40.541491, -79.782124). According to the U.S. ...

, in a farmhouse up the Allegheny River, now the Rachel Carson Homestead. On February 11, 2019 the bridge was closed to vehicles and pedestrians for a comprehensive rehabilitation project. The bridge was expected to remain closed until at least June 2020. Traffic was detoured over either the Andy Warhol Bridge or the Roberto Clemente Bridge, both of which run parallel and are less than 1/2 mile away from the Rachel Carson Bridge. The bridge reopened in November 2020 after the completion of a $23.3 million rehabilitation project. It was reconfigured from four lanes to three with the direction of the middle lane depending on time of day.

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References

External links

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at BridgeMeister.com {{NRHP bridges Carson Bridges completed in 1926 Bridges over the Allegheny River Road bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania

Bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation Historic Landmarks Suspension bridges in Pennsylvania Self-anchored suspension bridges Historic American Engineering Record in Pennsylvania 1926 establishments in Pennsylvania National Register of Historic Places in Pittsburgh

History

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See also

References

External links