Andy Warhol Bridge

Last updated
Andy Warhol Bridge
HAER PBG 7thStreet 361498pv.jpg
From north bank of the Allegheny River, looking southwest, downtown Pittsburgh in background, Roberto Clemente Bridge at right. Shows main plate girder (bearing compressive forces) and sidewalk support.
Coordinates 40°26′46″N80°00′05″W / 40.44611°N 80.00139°W / 40.44611; -80.00139
CarriesSeventh Street
Crosses Allegheny River
Official nameAndy Warhol Bridge
Named for Andy Warhol
Maintained by Allegheny County
Characteristics
Design Suspension bridge
Total length1,061 ft (323 m)
Width62 ft (19 m) Vertical clearance above 78 ft towers
Height83.5 ft (25.5 m)
History
Constructed byAmerican Bridge Company
Construction start1925
Construction end1926
OpenedJune 17, 1926
NRHP reference No. 86000018
Significant dates
Added to NRHPJanuary 7, 1986
Designated PHLF1988 [1]
Location
Andy Warhol Bridge

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 [2] on June 17, 1926, in a ceremony attended by 2,000. [3]

Contents

History and architectural features

Named for the artist Andy Warhol, a Pittsburgh native, this structure is one of three parallel bridges called The Three Sisters, the others being the Roberto Clemente Bridge and the Rachel Carson Bridge. The Three Sisters are self-anchored suspension bridges and are historically 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.

The bridge was renamed for Warhol on March 18, 2005, as part of the tenth-anniversary celebration for the Andy Warhol Museum. The museum is nearby at 117 Sandusky Street, a street which leads to the bridge from the north side of the river on Pittsburgh's North Shore.

On August 11, 2013, the Andy Warhol Bridge was covered with 580 knitted and crocheted panels in a yarn bombing project known as Knit the Bridge that lasted for four weeks. [4]

This is the third bridge on the site, the first having been demolished in early 1884. Construction of its replacement began in 1884, [5] opening to traffic in 1887. [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John A. Roebling</span> German-American engineer (1806–1869)

John Augustus Roebling was a German-born American civil engineer. He designed and built wire rope suspension bridges, in particular the Brooklyn Bridge, which has been designated as a National Historic Landmark and a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Side (Pittsburgh)</span> Region of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

North Side refers to the region of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, located to the north of the Allegheny River and the Ohio River. The term "North Side" does not refer to a specific neighborhood, but rather to a disparate collection of contiguous neighborhoods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Downtown Pittsburgh</span> Neighborhood in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States

Downtown Pittsburgh, colloquially referred to as the Golden Triangle, and officially the Central Business District, is the urban downtown center of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located at the confluence of the Allegheny River and the Monongahela River whose joining forms the Ohio River. The triangle is bounded by the two rivers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Three Sisters (Pittsburgh)</span> Bridge in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

The Three Sisters are three similar self-anchored suspension bridges spanning the Allegheny River in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at 6th, 7th, and 9th streets, generally running north/south. The bridges have been given formal names to honor important Pittsburgh residents:

<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">Smithfield Street Bridge</span> Bridge over the Monongahela River in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

The Smithfield Street Bridge is a lenticular truss bridge crossing the Monongahela River in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Shore (Pittsburgh)</span> Neighborhood of Pittsburgh in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States

North Shore is a neighborhood in Pittsburgh's North Side. Its zip code is 15212.

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

The Coraopolis Bridge 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 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">Allegheny County Courthouse</span> Courthouse and jail complex in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.

The Allegheny County Courthouse in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is part of a complex designed by H. H. Richardson. The buildings are considered among the finest examples of the Romanesque Revival style for which Richardson is well known.

<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">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">McKees Rocks Bridge</span> Bridge in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania

The McKees Rocks Bridge is a steel trussed through arch bridge which carries the Blue Belt, Pittsburgh's innermost beltline, across the Ohio River at Brighton Heights and McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, west of the city.

<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">Washington Crossing Bridge (Pittsburgh)</span> Bridge in Pittsburgh and Millvale

The Washington Crossing Bridge, commonly known as the Fortieth Street Bridge, is an arch bridge that carries vehicular traffic across the Allegheny River between the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Lawrenceville and the suburb of Millvale. The bridge is decorated with the seals representing the original 13 colonies of the US and that of Allegheny county.

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

The Point Bridge was a steel cantilever truss bridge that spanned the Monongahela River in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Vernon R. Covell was an American engineer. He was chief engineer of the Allegheny County Public Works Department.

References

  1. Historic Landmark Plaques 1968-2009 (PDF). Pittsburgh, PA: Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation. 2010. Retrieved 2024-01-04.
  2. "The Pittsburgh Press - Google News Archive Search".
  3. The Pittsburgh Press – Google News Archive Search
  4. Hamilton, Anita (August 13, 2013). "Pittsburgh Bridge Gets a 'Yarn Bomb' Makeover". Time .
  5. "A novel and profitable plan of construction for the new seventh street bridge". Pittsburgh Commercial Gazette. 23 Nov 1883. p. 2. Retrieved 5 October 2018 via newspapers.com. (make the piers) longer than they are now which is sixty-six feet
  6. "Local Laconics". Altoona Times. 22 January 1887. p. 4. Retrieved 5 October 2018 via newspapers.com. Levi H. Kantner, the 16-year-old son of Mr. D. T. Kantner, of the Altoona Gas Works, had the pleasure of being the first bicycler to cross the new Seventh street bridge on a wheel. Levi Kantner won't be beat in anything he undertakes that is, he won't if he can help it.

Commons-logo.svg Media related to Andy Warhol Bridge at Wikimedia Commons