Smithfield Street Bridge

Smithfield Street Bridge
Smithfield Street Bridge
	Smithfield Street Bridge
Coordinates	40°26′5″N 80°0′8″W / 40.43472°N 80.00222°W
Carries	4 lanes of roadway; 2 pedestrian walkways
Crosses	Monongahela River
Locale	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Characteristics
Design	Lenticular truss bridge
Total length	1,184 feet (361 m)
Longest span	2 spans, 360 feet (110 m) each
Clearance below	42.5 feet (13.0 m)
History
Opened	March 19, 1883
	Smithfield Street Bridge
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
	U.S. National Historic Landmark
	City of Pittsburgh Historic Structure
	Pittsburgh Landmark – PHLF
Area	1 acre (0.40 ha)
Architect	Gustav Lindenthal
Architectural style	Romanesque, Pauli truss
NRHP reference No.	74001745
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	March 21, 1974
Designated NHL	May 11, 1976
Designated CPHS	February 22, 1977
Designated PHLF	1970
Location

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

The bridge was designed by Gustav Lindenthal, the engineer who later designed the Hell Gate Bridge in New York City. The Smithfield Street Bridge was built between 1881 and 1883, opening for traffic on March 19, 1883.^{[citation needed]} It was widened in 1889 and widened again in 1911. The bridge has been designated a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark, a National Historic Landmark, and has a Historic Landmark Plaque from the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation.

History

The present bridge is the third bridge at the site. It remains the second oldest steel bridge in the United States.^{[citation needed]} In 1818, a wooden bridge was built across the Monongahela by Louis Wernwag at the cost of $102,000. This bridge was destroyed in Pittsburgh's Great Fire of 1845. The second bridge on the site was a wire rope suspension bridge built by John A. Roebling. Increases in bridge traffic and river traffic eventually made the lightly built bridge with eight short spans inadequate. The Lindenthal bridge was built in its place, using the Roebling bridge's stone masonry piers.

The Smithfield Street Bridge is the penultimate of the many bridges that span the Monongahela before the river joins with the Allegheny River to form the Ohio River at Downtown Pittsburgh. Only the Fort Pitt Bridge is farther downstream.

The bridge also served the Pittsburgh Railways streetcar system with lines coming from the Mt. Washington Transit Tunnel and from Carson Street, crossing the bridge and continuing into downtown along Grant Street and Smithfield Street, returning to the bridge via Wood Street or Grant Street. The tracks occupied the eastern half of the bridge. The streetcar line was abandoned in July 1985, when the streetcars were diverted to the Panhandle Bridge and the new light rail subway, on July 7.^[5] The last day of streetcar service on downtown Pittsburgh streets and over the Smithfield Street Bridge was July 6, 1985, although the final crossing of the bridge by a streetcar did not take place until 1:40 a.m. on July 7.^[6] The former streetcar right-of-way was converted into a paved roadway for northbound traffic.

The bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 21, 1974. Two years later, on May 11, 1976, it was designated a National Historic Landmark.^[4]

The bridge's short clearance from the river and its deteriorated condition convinced PennDOT officials to demolish and replace it with a modern bridge. Officials considered lobbying by the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation on preserving the bridge. In 1994–1995 the bridge was rehabilitated with a new deck, a colorful paint scheme, and architectural lighting. The abandoned rail lines became an extra traffic lane, and a light-controlled bus lane was added during peak traffic hours.^[7] The bridge also has the distinction of being the bridge most heavily walked by pedestrians, mostly commuters who park at Station Square.

The bridge connects Smithfield Street in Downtown Pittsburgh with Station Square.

Gallery

An early stereoscopic view of the bridge
Photograph of the Smithfield Street Bridge in 1894^[8]
The bridge around 1900
The bridge around 1905
A view of the bridge structure from around 1906
The bridge in 1911, during the second widening
Traffic on the bridge in 1917
Construction on the bridge, 1933
A streetcar crossing the bridge in 1966, southbound
The bridge in 1974
View from downtown in 1984, with a streetcar leaving the bridge
Detail of the ironwork on the Smithfield Street Bridge, looking south
The Smithfield Bridge at dusk
North end, in the 2000s

Popular culture

The bridge is featured in the 1993 Bruce Willis film Striking Distance, the opening scene of the 1983 film Flashdance and the 2010 rap video Black and Yellow.