31st Street Bridge

Last updated

Thirty-First Street Bridge
31st Street Bridge, Pittsburgh.jpg
Coordinates 40°27′47″N79°58′33″W / 40.4630°N 79.9758°W / 40.4630; -79.9758
Carries2 lanes of 31st Street
Crosses Allegheny River; Washington's Landing
Locale Pittsburgh
Official nameWilliam Raymond Prom Memorial Bridge
Other name(s)31st Street Bridge
Characteristics
Design Arch bridge
Total length2,681 feet (817 m)
Longest span360 feet (110 m)
Clearance below 72.6 feet (22.1 m)
History
Opened1928
Rebuilt2011–2012
Location
31st Street Bridge

The William Raymond Prom Memorial Bridge, commonly known as the 31st Street Bridge, is an arch bridge that carries vehicular traffic across the Allegheny River between the Pittsburgh neighborhoods of Troy Hill and the Strip District. The bridge passes over but does not serve Washington's Landing, which is connected to the mainland by the 30th Street Bridge. Sidewalks along the bridge feature viewing platforms.

Contents

History

This first documented bridge was built in 1887 and was destroyed by fire on July 8, 1921. The 1887 bridge replaced a two-span iron truss destroyed by a flood in 1882.

The bridge was built in 1927–1928 to replace an earlier through truss bridge aligned with 30th Street. A cable suspension footbridge was provided as a crossing while the new 31st Street bridge was being constructed.[ citation needed ]

The bridge was due to close on Tuesday, January 31, 2006, for a proposed $27 million refurbishment which would take two years. [1] It eventually closed on February 14, 2006, and reopened by Mayor Luke Ravenstahl on November 21, 2007. [2]

The portion of the bridge over the river's back channel was demolished with explosives on August 16, 2012, this was done in order to rebuild the segment to allow for the implementation of improvements to Route 28. [3] Work on the reconstruction was completed by September 2012.

The bridge was renamed in 2013, from its former name of Thirty-First Street Bridge, Number Six Allegheny River to William Raymond Prom Memorial Bridge, to honor William R. Prom, who was killed in Vietnam. [4] [5] [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Allegheny Passage</span> Rail trail connecting Cumberland, Maryland, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

The Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) is a 150-mile (240 km) rail trail between Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Cumberland, Maryland. Together with the C&O Canal towpath, the GAP is part of a 335 mi (539 km) route between Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C., that is popular with through hikers and cyclists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roberto Clemente Bridge</span> Bridge in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

The Roberto Clemente Bridge, also known as the Sixth Street Bridge, spans the Allegheny River in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coraopolis Bridge</span> Bridge in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania

The Coraopolis Bridge[1] is a girder bridge over the back channel of the Ohio River connecting Grand Avenue on Neville Island to Ferree Street in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania. It opened in 1995 to replace a structure of historic significance. The original Pratt/Bowstring/Pennsylvania[2] through truss spans, designed by Theodore Cooper, were formerly the (third) Sixth Street Bridge, spanning the Allegheny River, in downtown Pittsburgh, and were built in 1892 by the Union Bridge Company. They were floated downstream by the Foundation Company in 1927 rather than being demolished when the bridge was removed to enable construction of the present (fourth) Three Sisters (Pittsburgh) Sixth Street Self-anchored suspension bridge. However, by the late 1980s, the old bridge could no longer support traffic volumes and was replaced by a newer structure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Homestead Grays Bridge</span> Bridge over the Monongahela River

The Homestead Grays Bridge, also known as the (Homestead) High Level Bridge, was built in 1936 and spans the Monongahela River between Homestead Borough and the southernmost tip of Pittsburgh's Squirrel Hill neighborhood. It is notable as the first bridge to incorporate the Wichert Truss, which uses a quadrilateral shape over each support, into its design. This made the truss statically determinate, so that forces in the structural members could be calculated. There are very few surviving Wichert Truss bridges, including one other example in Pittsburgh, the Charles Anderson Memorial Bridge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Tenth Street Bridge</span> Bridge in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

The South Tenth Street Bridge, most often called the Tenth Street Bridge, but officially dubbed the Philip Murray Bridge, is a suspension bridge that spans the Monongahela River in Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Birmingham Bridge</span> Bridge in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

The Birmingham Bridge is a bowstring arch bridge that is located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and spans the Monongahela River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hot Metal Bridge</span> Bridge over the Monongahela River in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

The Hot Metal Bridge is a truss bridge in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that crosses the Monongahela River. The bridge consists of two parallel spans on a single set of piers: the former Monongahela Connecting Railroad Bridge, built in 1887, on the upstream side and the former Hot Metal Bridge, built in 1900, on the downstream side. The Monongahela Connecting Railroad Bridge carried conventional railroad traffic, while the Hot Metal Bridge connected parts of the J&L Steel mill, carrying crucibles of molten iron from the blast furnaces in ladle transfer cars to the open hearth furnaces on the opposite bank to be converted to steel. During World War II 15% of America's steel making capacity crossed over the Hot Metal Bridge, up to 180 tons per hour. The upstream span was converted to road use after a $14.6 million restoration, and opened by Mayor Tom Murphy with a ceremony honoring former steel workers on June 23, 2000. The bridge connects 2nd Avenue at the Pittsburgh Technology Center in South Oakland with Hot Metal Street in the South Side. The downstream span reopened for pedestrian and bicycle use in late 2007 after two years of work. The Great Allegheny Passage hiker/biker trail passes over this bridge as it approaches Pittsburgh's Golden Triangle area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West End Bridge</span> Bridge in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

The West End Bridge is a steel tied-arch bridge over the Ohio River in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) below the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers. It connects the West End to the Chateau neighborhood on the North Side of Pittsburgh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rachel Carson Bridge</span> Bridge

The Rachel Carson Bridge, also known as the Ninth Street Bridge, spans the Allegheny River in Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andy Warhol Bridge</span> Bridge over the Allegheny River in Pittsburgh

Andy Warhol Bridge, also known as the Seventh Street Bridge, spans the Allegheny River in Downtown Pittsburgh. It is the only bridge in the United States named for a visual artist. It was opened at a cost of $1.5 million on June 17, 1926, in a ceremony attended by 2,000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David McCullough Bridge</span> Bridge in Pittsburgh

The David McCullough Bridge, commonly and historically known as the 16th Street Bridge, is a steel trussed through arch bridge that spans the Allegheny River in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William R. Prom</span>

William Raymond Prom was a United States Marine who posthumously received the Medal of Honor for heroism in February 1969 during the Vietnam War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wabash Tunnel</span> Tunnel in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.

The Wabash Tunnel is a former railway tunnel and presently an automobile tunnel through Mt. Washington in the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Constructed early in the 20th century by railroad magnate George J. Gould for the Wabash Railroad, it was closed to trains and cars between 1946 and 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">33rd Street Railroad Bridge</span> Truss bridge in Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

The 33rd Street Railroad Bridge is a truss bridge that carries the Allegheny Valley Railroad on the P&W Subdivision over the Allegheny River that connects downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Herrs Island, Pittsburgh, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fleming Park Bridge</span> Bridge in Pennsylvania and Stowe Township, Pennsylvania

The Fleming Park Bridge is a through truss bridge which spans the back channel of the Ohio River, between Neville Island and Stowe Township, PA. Although the Ohio River's back channel is only 590 feet wide, roughly 660 feet of this newer bridge was erected over water due to the unique 65-degree angle of the structure's trajectory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">30th Street Bridge</span> Bridge in Pittsburgh, United States

The 30th Street Bridge is a girder bridge that carries vehicular traffic across the Allegheny River between the Pittsburgh neighborhoods of Troy Hill and Herrs Island. This is the fourth bridge that has stood on this site. A wooden 19th Century bridge was washed away during an 1882 flood. This was replaced by an arch bridge that spanned the entire width of the Allegheny River; after a 1921 fire destroyed the span across the main channel, the 31st Street Bridge was constructed as a replacement, and this bridge was again relegated to taking traffic to Herrs Island. A 1939 truss bridge then stood on this site, and it was replaced by the current structure as part of the redevelopment of the island to feature condominiums and a business park instead of warehouses and stockyards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Senator Robert D. Fleming Bridge</span> Bridge in Pittsburgh and Sharpsburg

The Senator Robert D. Fleming Bridge, commonly known as the 62nd Street Bridge, is a truss bridge that carries Pennsylvania Route 8 across the Allegheny River between the Pittsburgh neighborhoods of Morningside and Lawrenceville and Sharpsburg, Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerome Street Bridge</span> Bridge in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, U.S.

The Jerome Street Bridge is an arch bridge across the Youghiogheny River connecting the east and west banks of the Pittsburgh industrial suburb of McKeesport, Pennsylvania. The bridge is a rare steel crescent arch bridge. A crescent arch is formed when the intrados and extrados of the arch are not parallel, but instead form two different curves beginning and ending together. The ribs form a truss at the top of the arch and join together in a solid rib at each end. A crescent arch is a two-hinged arch, the ribs are further apart where the bending moment is greatest and close together at each hinge where it is minimized.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Anderson Memorial Bridge</span> Bridge in Pittsburgh

The Charles Anderson Memorial Bridge is a steel deck truss bridge located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The bridge carries the four-lane roadway of Boulevard of the Allies across a ravine known as Junction Hollow, connecting the neighborhoods of Central Oakland and South Oakland with Schenley Park. The bridge also spans the Junction Hollow Trail and P&W Subdivision railroad tracks which run along the bottom of the valley.

References

  1. "31st Street Bridge Closed". ThePittsburghChannel.com. January 26, 2006. Archived from the original on June 10, 2007. Retrieved February 3, 2010.
  2. Joe Grata (November 9, 2006). "31st Street Bridge to reopen". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved February 3, 2010.
  3. Schmitz, Jon (August 17, 2012). "31st Street Bridge Goes Out with a Blast". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . Retrieved August 19, 2012.
  4. "Act of May. 23, 2013, P.L. 38, No. 11 Cl. 87 - WILLIAM RAYMOND PROM MEMORIAL BRIDGE - DESIGNATION". www.legis.state.pa.us.
  5. "William Raymond Prom Memorial Bridge". 90.5 WESA.
  6. "31st Street Bridge Renamed In Honor Of Fallen Hero". July 22, 2013.