Union Railroad Clairton Bridge | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Coordinates | 40°17′40″N79°52′01″W / 40.2945°N 79.8669°W |
Carries | Pennsylvania Union Railroad |
Crosses | Monongahela River |
Locale | Clairton, Pennsylvania and Lincoln, Pennsylvania |
Official name | Clairton Coke Works Bridge |
Characteristics | |
Design | Truss bridge |
Longest span | 482.0 feet (146.9 m) |
Clearance below | 47.5 feet (14.5 m) |
History | |
Opened | 1893 |
Location | |
![]() |
The Union Railroad Clairton Bridge, commonly known as the Clairton Coke Works Bridge, is a truss bridge that formerly carried traffic between Clairton, Pennsylvania and Lincoln, Pennsylvania for the Pennsylvania Union Railroad which is owned and operated by Transtar, Inc., a subsidiary of the United States Steel Corporation. The structure, which featured a single track, has been out of service since the 1970s; rail traffic was rerouted to the US Steel Clairton Works as the steel industry began to decline. The bridge is currently slated to become part of the Montour Trail, one of many current Pittsburgh-area bike trails projects.
Clairton is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located along the Monongahela River and is part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The population was 6,181 at the 2020 census. Under Pennsylvania legal classifications for local governments, Clairton is considered a third-class city. It is home to U.S. Steel's Clairton Coke Works, the largest coke manufacturing facility in North America.
Jefferson Hills is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. In the 2020 census, the population was 12,424. It is part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area.
United States Steel Corporation, more commonly known as U.S. Steel, is an American integrated steel producer headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with production operations primarily in the United States of America and in Central Europe. The company produces and sells steel products, including flat-rolled and tubular products for customers in industries across automotive, construction, consumer, electrical, industrial equipment, distribution, and energy. Operations also include iron ore and coke production facilities.
The Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad was a class II railroad that operates in northwestern Pennsylvania and northeastern Ohio.
The Lehigh and Hudson River Railway (L&HR) was the smallest of the six railroads that were merged into Conrail in 1976. It was a bridge line running northeast–southwest across northwestern New Jersey, connecting the line to the Poughkeepsie Bridge at Maybrook, New York with Easton, Pennsylvania, where it interchanged with various other companies.
The Pittsburgh and West Virginia Railway was a railroad in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Wheeling, West Virginia, areas. Originally built as the Wabash Pittsburgh Terminal Railway, a Pittsburgh extension of George J. Gould's Wabash Railroad, the venture entered receivership in 1908, and the line was cut loose. An extension completed in 1931 connected it to the Western Maryland Railway at Connellsville, Pennsylvania, forming part of the Alphabet Route, a coalition of independent lines between the Northeastern United States and the Midwest. It was leased by the Norfolk and Western Railway in 1964 in conjunction with the N&W acquiring several other sections of the former Alphabet Route but was leased to the new spinoff Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway in 1990, just months before the N&W was merged into the Norfolk Southern Railway.
The Montour Trail is a multi-use recreational rail trail near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was formerly the Montour Railroad.
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.
The Carrie Furnace Hot Metal Bridge is a railroad truss bridge across the Monongahela River between Whitaker, Pennsylvania, and Rankin, Pennsylvania. The bridge is out of service and it has not seen a train in almost 40 years.
A large metropolitan area that is surrounded by rivers and hills, Pittsburgh has an infrastructure system that has been built out over the years to include roads, tunnels, bridges, railroads, inclines, bike paths, and stairways; however, the hills and rivers still form many barriers to transportation within the city.
Union Railroad is a Class III switching railroad located in Allegheny County in Western Pennsylvania. The company is owned by Transtar, Inc., which is a subsidiary of Fortress Transportation and Infrastructure Investors, after being acquired from U.S. Steel in 2021. The railroad's primary customers are the three plants of the USS Mon Valley Works, the USS Edgar Thomson Steel Works, the USS Irvin Works and the USS Clairton Coke Works.
The Schuylkill River Trail is a multi-use trail along the banks of the Schuylkill River in southeastern Pennsylvania. Partially complete as of 2018, the trail is ultimately planned to run about 140 miles (230 km) from the river's headwaters in Schuylkill County to Fort Mifflin in Philadelphia.
Pennsylvania Route 885 is a 14.1-mile-long (22.69 km) north–south state highway in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It runs from Pennsylvania Route 837 in Clairton north to Interstate 579 in Pittsburgh. The route is entirely within Allegheny County and serves as a connector between the city of Pittsburgh and its southern suburbs.
The Norwottuck Rail Trail Bridge is a former crossing of Boston and Maine Railroad over the Connecticut River in western Massachusetts, connecting the towns of Northampton and Hadley, by the Norwottuck Rail Trail, which is currently used for bicycle and foot traffic.
The McKeesport Connecting Railroad Bridge, also known as the Riverton Bridge, is a bridge that spans the Monongahela River between McKeesport, and Duquesne, Pennsylvania.
The Union Railroad Port Perry Bridge is a truss bridge that carries the Pennsylvania Union Railroad across the Monongahela River between Duquesne, Pennsylvania and the former town site of Port Perry in North Versailles, Pennsylvania. Industrial pipelines adorn the bridge, conveying coke oven gas produced at U.S. Steel's Clairton Coke Works to the company's Edgar Thomson Steel Works near the north end of the bridge for use as fuel.
The McKeesport–Duquesne Bridge it is a truss bridge that carries vehicular traffic across the Monongahela River between McKeesport, Pennsylvania and Duquesne, Pennsylvania. The bridge connects Route 837 in Duquesne and Route 148 in McKeesport.
The Clairton–Glassport Bridge, officially the Senator Edward P. Zemprelli Bridge is a girder bridge that carries vehicular traffic across the Monongahela River between Glassport, Pennsylvania and Clairton, Pennsylvania.
The Manayunk Bridge is an S-shaped former railroad bridge over the Schuylkill River, Schuylkill Canal and Schuylkill Expressway, that connects Bala Cynwyd, Montgomery County and the Manayunk neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Closed to rail traffic in 1986, it is now an extension of the Cynwyd Heritage Trail and connects to the Schuylkill River Trail.
Port Perry was a town along the Monongahela River near Braddock, Pennsylvania and by the mouth of Turtle Creek. It disappeared by 1945, having been gradually replaced by railroad tracks serving the nearby Edgar Thomson Steel Works.