Manchester Bridge (Pittsburgh)

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Manchester Bridge
21. Charles W. Shane, Photographer, April 1970. VIEW FROM THE SOUTHEAST. HAER PA,2-PITBU,59-21.jpg
Coordinates 40°26′37″N80°00′46″W / 40.4435°N 80.0129°W / 40.4435; -80.0129
Crosses Allegheny River
Locale Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Official nameNorth Side Point Bridge
Characteristics
Designsubdivided Pratt through truss
MaterialSteel
Total length2,840 feet (870 m)
Longest span2 x 531 feet (162 m)
Piers in water3
Clearance below 70 feet (21 m)
History
OpenedAugust 8, 1915
ClosedOctober 17, 1969
Demolished1970
Location
Manchester Bridge (Pittsburgh)

The Manchester Bridge, also known as the North Side Point Bridge, was a steel Pratt truss bridge that spanned the Allegheny River in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. [1]

Contents

History

The Manchester Bridge became Pittsburgh's second bridge to span from the Point to the North Side. Its predecessor, the wooden covered Union Bridge, [2] opened in 1874 and was demolished in 1907 after suffering extensive damage from a major flood that same year. [3] The new bridge was constructed from 1911–1915. [4] and was opened by Mayor Joseph G. Armstrong on August 8, 1915. [5] It carried motorists across the Allegheny River for the next 54 years.

The bridge closed on October 17, 1969 when its successor, the Fort Duquesne Bridge (located closer to the Roberto Clemente Bridge) opened that same day as part of the city's Renaissance I redevelopment project. Efforts were made to save the old Manchester Bridge, but it was determined that it had to be removed (along with the adjoining Point Bridge, defunct since 1959 after the opening of the Fort Pitt Bridge) to complete construction of the new Point State Park. Explosives were used to drop the south span into the Allegheny River at 18:42 on September 29, 1970. [6] The original attempt eleven hours earlier had been unsuccessful when five of the eight charges failed to detonate. Demolition was subcontracted to Controlled Demolition by Dravo Corporation and was overseen by John D. Loizeaux. Less than a month later on October 28, the north span was brought down the same way, this time with no problems.

Sculptor Charles Keck designed four figures for the bridge, representing Native American chief Guyasuta, pioneer Christopher Gist, a mill worker, and a coal miner. [7] [8] These were installed on the portals of the bridge in 1917. [7] The two worker figures have also been identified as fictional heroes Joe Magarac and Jan Volkanik, [9] despite some folklorists finding no evidence that the Magarac legend existed prior to 1931. [10] The sculptures were salvaged from the bridge when it was razed in 1970 and, for a time, were displayed on the grounds of the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh. In a move funded by the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Guyasuta and Gist figures were moved to a display on Pittsburgh's North Shore in July 2016, and are now located near their original site. [8]

A structural footing from the bridge still survives on the north bank of the Allegheny River, not far from the south end zone of Acrisure Stadium; it was cleaned and carved out as the setting for a memorial statue of Fred Rogers.

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "Bridges and Tunnels of Allegheny County - Manchester Bridge 1915-1970". December 7, 2000. Retrieved April 28, 2011.
  2. ↑ "Union Bridge 1875-1907 - Bridges and Tunnels of Allegheny County and Pittsburgh, PA".
  3. ↑ "The Union Bridge (1874-1907)".
  4. ↑ "Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. PA,2-PITBU,59-". Library of Congress . April 1970. Retrieved April 29, 2011.
  5. ↑ "Manchester Bridge Name For New Span". The Pittsburgh Press. Pittsburgh. August 7, 1915. Retrieved May 1, 2011.
  6. ↑ "Manchester Span Blasted Down". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh. September 30, 1970. Retrieved May 1, 2011.
  7. 1 2 Van Trump, James D. (1973). "HAER PA-3: Written Historical and Descriptive Data" (PDF). Historical American Engineering Record. p. 20.
  8. 1 2 Cato, Jason (June 27, 2016). "Steelers finance $1M project to resurrect century-old sculpture". TribLIVE. Retrieved June 28, 2016.
  9. ↑ Haptas, Maya (July 12, 2016). "Historic Manchester Bridge sculpture restored and relocated for all to enjoy". NEXT Pittsburgh. Retrieved August 5, 2023.
  10. ↑ Gilley, Jennifer; Stephen Burnett (November 1998). "Deconstructing and Reconstructing Pittsburgh's Man of Steel: Reading Joe Magarac against the Context of the 20th-Century Steel Industry". The Journal of American Folklore. 111 (442): 392–408. doi:10.2307/541047. JSTOR   541047.
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