Wednesday, August 4, 2021

1819+1859+1892+1928,2023 (Sisters) 6th Street Bridges over Allegheny River in Pittsburgh, PA

1819: wooden covered bridge designed by Lothrop.
1859: (Bridge Hunter)
1892: A bowstring truss designed by Theodore Cooper

The 1928 bridge was rehabilitated in 1995 and recently. [BridgeHunter-1928] It is one of the Three Sisters Eye-Bar Suspension Bridges.

Roberto Clemente was a baseball player. [plaque]

The 1859 bridge was designed by John A. Roebling. The main span was 344' and the shore spans were 177' and 171'. The four cast-iron towers were about 22' high and 22" in diameter. [HAER-data]
BridgeHunter-1859
Sixth Street Suspension Bridge, on line of Pittsburgh, Allegheny & Manchester Railway.
Photo taken from Transit Journal; October 1891
 
History's Canvas posted
[The description is just platitudes and errors.]

Bridges Now and Then posted
The St. Clair Street (now Sixth Street) Bridge, shown here in 1890, spanned the Allegheny River between Allegheny City and Pittsburgh from 1857 to 1892. The second Seventh Street Bridge can be seen to the right. (Brookline Connection)
Dave Frieder: Engineer of design, John A. Roebling!
 
The Odd, Mysterious & Fascinating History of Pittsburgh updated
Bridges Now and Then posted
In 1859, architect John Roebling designed the "St. Clair Street" Bridge (later known as the Sixth Street Bridge) connecting the sister cities of Pittsburgh & Allegheny. He would later go on to design the Brooklyn Bridge in 1869.
Despite its popularity, it was unable to support the ever-increasing traffic demand & heavier loads. It was not suitable for the new electric trolley cars & restrictions were posted limiting speed and light vehicle load weight. A new bridge was necessary so in 1892, the bridge was dismantled.
(Carnegie Library Photograph colorized with #Deoldify)
Dave Frieder: Engineer, Not Architect.
Jackson-Township historical preservation posted
The old Sixth Street Bridge in Downtown Pittsburgh (circa 1859-1892).
Clevon M. Owens: Designed by John A. Roebling, founder of Saxonburg, PA, and creator of wire rope. He designed several suspension bridges in Pittsburgh. Unfortunately none of his bridges in Pittsburgh exists. His world famous Brooklyn Bridge still exists today.
Robert Papke: Clevon M. Owens the Smithfield Bridge was designed by Roebling and is still in use today.
Dennis DeBruler: Robert Papke Roebling designed the 1846 bridge, not the 1883 bridge that we have today. Today's bridge was designed by Gustav Lindenthal.
 
The Odd, Mysterious & Fascinating History of Pittsburgh commented
Another colorized one
.
𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻: 𝗣𝗲𝗻𝗻𝘀𝘆𝗹𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗮 posted
Suspension Bridge across the Allegheny, at St. Clair St. • Pittsburgh circa early 1900s! 

1892 bowstring truss


Library of Congress via HistoricBridges

The bowstring truss was floated downriver to become the bridge between Neville Island and Coraopolis.

A bowstring truss is in the background of this 1912 photo of the 7th Street Bridge.
danepieri via Bridge Hunter-1884

1928 Suspension


HAER PA,2-PITBU,78A--4
4. Sixth Street Bridge in foreground, Seventh and Ninth in distance. - Three Sisters Bridges, Sixth Street Bridge, Spanning Allegheny River at Sixth Street, Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, PA
 
20220817 1186, cropped

Andy Sun, Jul 2019

This is one of three sister bridges in a row that share the same eye-bar, self-anchored suspension bridge design. For more information on the design and construction of this bridge, see my notes on the other two sister bridges.

Street View

"The bridge has a 430 Feet (292.6 Meters) span between towers, 960 Feet (11.6 Meters) total suspended length, and 39.7 Feet (12.1 Meters) of navigation vertical clearance. The listed Minimum Vertical Underclearance is 14.3 Feet (4.36 Meters) Over Highway." [HistoricBridges]

The 6th Street Bridge is the suspension bridge in the background of this view. The Rachel Carson Bridge in the foreground is of the same design. So this gives us a better view of the design of the bridge.
Street View
 
Craig Schofield posted
The Roberto Clemente Bridge in Pittsburgh, PA. Remembering the Great One on the 51st anniversary of his tragic death. (Photo taken June 7, 2016)

We get an overview of this bridge and a detail of the self-anchoring attachment to the stiffening girder from the Andy Warhole Bridge. The stiffening girder runs the full length of the bridge and forms a barrier between the cantilevered walkway and the traffic lanes.
Street View

HAER-gallery

Allegheny County Department of Public Works photo via ConstructionEquipmentGuide
A 34.5m rehabilitation should be done in Dec 2023.
"We are required to maintain a 39-foot clearance for Allegheny River traffic within the 180-foot navigation channel beneath the bridge's midspan," said Brent Wasko, public information officer of the Allegheny County Department of Public Works.

These photos from a river tour shows the safety netting and some tarps for the rehabilitation work.
20220817 1187


This bridge is the lowest on the river.

Allegheny County Government posted Jan 1, 2024
The Roberto Clemente (Sixth Street) Bridge in Pittsburgh has reopened to traffic. The closure, which began on February 14, 2022, was required for a $35.6 million bridge rehabilitation project.
Read more: https://bit.ly/4aIjWjm

Karen DeBruler, Public Domain

Karen DeBruler, Public Domain

Karen DeBruler, Public Domain

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