| Homestead Grays Bridge | |
| Pittsburgh-Homestead High Level Bridge | |
| Truss bridge | |
 View of the Homestead Grays Bridge
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| Official name: Homestead Grays Bridge | |
| Named for: Homestead Grays | |
| Country |  United States |
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| State |  Pennsylvania |
| County | Allegheny |
| Municipalities | Pittsburgh, Homestead |
| Road | Blue Belt 4 lanes |
| - Sidewalks | Each side |
| Crosses | Monongahela River, CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern Railway |
| Coordinates | 40°24′39″N 79°55′08″W / 40.41083°N 79.91889°W |
| Length | 3,750 ft (1,143 m) |
| - Main span | 516.3 ft (157 m) |
| Clearance | 49.9 ft (15 m) |
| - Navigational | 109.3 ft (33 m) mid-span |
| Number of Spans | 4 |
| Design | Wichert truss |
| Material | Steel |
| Built | 1936 |
| - Opened | 1937 |
| - Reconstructed | 1979, 2006 |
| Maintained by | Allegheny County |
| NBI Number | 027301304723920 |
  Location of the Homestead Grays Bridge in Pennsylvania
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 Location of Pennsylvania in the United States
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| Wikimedia Commons: Homestead Grays Bridge | |
The Homestead Grays Bridge, also known as the (Homestead) High Level Bridge and the "Bridge to Beer", was built in 1936 and spans the Monongahela River between Homestead and Pittsburgh's Greenfield neighborhood. It is notable as the first bridge to utilize the Wichert Truss, which uses a quadrilateral shape over each support. This made the truss statically determinate, so that forces in the structural members could be calculated.
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History
The bridge was dedicated on Saturday November 12, 1937, having cost the county of Allegheny $2,750,000 to build and originally carried four highway lanes and two streetcar tracks of Pittsburgh Railways Company.[1] It replaced the 1897 Brown's Bridge (Homestead and Highland Bridge) which was upstream and had linked Brown's Hill Rd on the north bank and Second Avenue between Ann Street and Amity Street, Homestead on the south bank.[2]
On July 11, 2002, the Homestead High-Level Bridge was renamed the Homestead Grays Bridge in honor of the Homestead Grays baseball team.[3]
The bridge had grown dilapidated since its last renovation in 1979. In 2006 and 2007 work was undertaken to rehabilitate the bridge: the deck was removed and the structure stripped down to the steel, then the steel structure repaired and a new, wider deck put on. The new deck is six feet wider in traffic lanes—three feet on each side—and also has broader pedestrian walkways. The railings and lighting were replaced with reproductions of historic models, and the entire structure received a new coat of blue-grey paint.
References
- ^ "Homestead High Level Bridge". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. November 19, 1937. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=U9EMAAAAIBAJ&sjid=umkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2011,4178343&dq=homestead+high+level+bridge&hl=en. Retrieved November 21, 2009.
- ^ "PGHBridges.com - Brown's Bridge 1897". March 15, 2008. http://pghbridges.com/pittsburghE/0591-4474/browns1897.htm. Retrieved December 21, 2009.
- ^ "High-Level Bridge Renamed For Homestead Grays". ThePittsburghChannel.com. July 11, 2002. http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/sports/1553427/detail.html. Retrieved December 21, 2009.
See also
External links
- Pittsburgh bridges
- "Homestead Grays Bridge work set for March" (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
- Homestead span honors baseball team — Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article on the renaming of the Homestead Grays Bridge
- Why was it called the "High-Level" Bridge? — Pittsburgh City Paper column explaining some of the history of the bridge
- Bridges and Tunnels of Allegheny County "Homestead High-Level Bridge" — PAHighways.com article on the Homestead Grays Bridge
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