1931,1983 US-30 George Westinghouse Bridge over Turtle Creek at East Pittsburgh, PA

(Bridge Hunter; Historic Bridges; no B&T; HAER; pghbridges; Satellite)

J.R. Manning in BridgeHunter describes the old US-30 route across the valley. It used to take about 40 minutes to cross the valley instead of just a few minutes after this bridge was built.

Boston Public Library Flickr via BridgeHunter, License: Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY)

 Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania Photo via FreightWaves
"On January 8, 1886 Westinghouse founded the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company in Pittsburgh. The company developed electric infrastructure throughout the nation. The company’s factories manufactured turbines, generators, motors and switch gear for the generation, transmission and use of electricity."
HistoricPittsburgh
"The George Washington Memorial Bridge spans Turtle Creek between East Pittsburgh and North Versailles Township. The 460-foot center span of the bridge was the nation’s longest for a concrete arch at the time. The total length (including the longest elevated ramp) includes five spans totaling 1,598 feet. The bridge, designed by George S. Richardson, was built by the County of Allegheny in 1932 to carry the Lincoln Highway US 30. The bridge was a $1.75 million part of a $4.4 million Lincoln Highway re-routing project. Four pylons at the entrances have 10 foot by 18-foot art deco granite reliefs by Frank Vittor. With a relief of up to eight inches, the chiseled scenes depict the development of the Turtle Creek Valley including the defeat of the British General Braddock by the French and Indians in 1755. An $11.3 million in renovation in 1982-83 included a modified deck with a wider roadway and Jersey barriers. The bridge was reopened in October 1983. Below the bridge stands a former site of the now-dissolved Westinghouse Electric Corporation."

Street View

Upstream Elevation:

Street View

Downstream Elevation:

Street View

"This bridge was claimed to be the longest concrete arch bridge in the world when completed. Such a claim would have to exclude railroad bridges, since the older Tunkhannock Viaduct far exceeds the length of this bridge. Regardless, the bridge was and remains among the longest concrete arch bridges in the United States. However, the Westinghouse Bridge's largest central span [460'] does appear to have been the longest concrete arch span in the world when completed." It is about 200' above the valley floor. [HistoricBridges] See HistoricBridges for photos of the four sculptures on the four pylons.

HAER PA,2-EAPIT,1--11 (CT)
3/4 VIEW FROM WEST. - George Westinghouse Bridge, Spanning Turtle Creek at Lincoln Highway (U.S. Route 30), East Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, PA

The HAER document quotes the Engineering News-Record concerning the construction of the arches: "Steel-truss centering was used in all of the arch spans, so fabricated that it could be made to conform to the intrados of arches of different span lengths and so planned that the two arches at either end of the bridge would be first completed and then all of the centering assembled to support the 460-ft. span." [pghbridges]

The Westinghouse Plant back in its heyday.

1933 Photo from U of Michigan Lincoln Highway Collection via BridgeHunter

 

𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻: 𝗣𝗲𝗻𝗻𝘀𝘆𝗹𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗮 posted
Vintage Aerial!
Westinghouse Bridge, east of Pittsburgh on U.S. Highway 30

 

Patrick Boyle commented on the above post

🅁🄴🄼🄴🄼🄱🄴🅁 🅆🄷🄴🄽: 🄿🄴🄽🄽🅂🅈🄻🅅🄰🄽🄸🄰 posted
An image of workers on a portion of the George Westinghouse Bridge in East Pittsburgh during construction in 1931!
: ACPD

John Waltz added two photos as comments to the above post.

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Brian Bobby commented on the above post
The beginning of Westinghouse bridge

The Edgar Thomson Works is on the downstream side along the Monongahela River.

Street View

River Rail Photo posted

The Pennsylvanian Anniversary Unit. On Sunday, May 22, 2022, AMTK 46 (P42DC, 50th Anniversary) led Amtrak Train 42 (Pennsylvanian), seen passing under the George Westinghouse Bridge and East Pittsburgh-McKeepsort Blvd in East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This was Amtrak's first 50th Anniversary unit (out of 7 total). The number 46 was chosen as this unit was originally planned to lead a train for the 2021 Presidential Inauguration. The train this day was lengthened from its usual 7 cars to 9 with the inclusion of 2 private cars, Webb Rail LLC - WEBX's former New York Central Railroad Budd built Pullman obs/diner/sleeper "Babbling Brook" (WEBX 800007) and former New York Central lounge/diner/sleeper "Swift Stream" (RPCX 800460).

Full resolution:

https://www.riverrailphoto.com/amtrak/e3924a55b

Ironically, when Webb Rail visited this bridge in March 2021, AMTK 108 was the power (pre-repaint) but the rear of the train was the best angle:

https://www.riverrailphoto.com/webbrailontheroad/ed9fd9d8

More on Amtrak's Commemorative 50th Anniversary Locomotives: https://media.amtrak.com/.../amtrak-releasing-six-50th.../

Robby Beck posted
EB Turtle Creek Pa area

Comments on Robby's post

This was the post that motivated the research of this bridge. Given the highway cut in the background, the southwestern tip of the Westinghouse plant is in the foreground and Edgar Thomson is out-of-frame to the right.

Joe Reed posted
Painting by Pittsburgher John Kane. He created this image of the Westinghouse Bridge in 1932. The Edgar Thomson Works was on the far side of the bridge. On the near side was the Westinghouse Electric East Pittsburgh plant which at one time employed 20,000 workers

3D Satellite

Rust Belt Railroading posted two photos with the comment: "Union in Railroad 76 crew, the slab train led by colorful Mp15dc trio."

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Rust Belt Railroading posted
Union Railroad 76 crew. Stretching out of ET from the Edgar Thompson Works.