0
  • DE
  • EN
  • FR
  • International Database and Gallery of Structures

Advertisement

General Information

Beginning of works: 1980
Completion: 21 October 1981
Status: in use

Project Type

Awards and Distinctions

1982 award winner  

Location

Location: , , ,
Crosses:
  • Ohio River
Replaces: Sewickley Bridge (1911)
Coordinates: 40° 31' 59" N    80° 11' 16" W
Show coordinates on a map

Technical Information

Dimensions

number of lanes 2
abutments number 2
main bridge
main span 228.6 m
total length 457.2 m
span lengths 114.3 m - 228.6 m - 114.3 m
number of spans 3

Materials

truss steel

Excerpt from Wikipedia

The Sewickley Bridge is a steel continuous truss bridge spanning the Ohio River between Sewickley and Moon Township, Pennsylvania, carrying State Route 4025 and the Orange Belt. It was built by American Bridge Company and opened on October 21, 1981. Its center span is 750 feet (230 m) long and the side spans are each 375 feet (114 m) long. The bridge deck contains two vehicle lanes and a pedestrian sidewalk. It crosses 73 feet (22 m) above the river. The bridge is owned by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

The current bridge is the second bridge to occupy the site; the original Sewickley Bridge opened September 19, 1911, after 26 months of construction. The bridge was a lattice-beam cantilever truss design, built by the Fort Pitt Bridge Works and officially named the Ohio River Bridge No. 1.

By the late 1970s, the bridge had deteriorated badly. The bridge was closed for emergency repairs from January 30 to May 20, 1977, and also from January 11 to March 2, 1979. A replacement bridge was ordered and the design was completed in late 1979. The old Sewickley Bridge closed for the last time on May 14, 1980.

To reduce construction costs, the piers from the original bridge were reused for the new bridge. This meant that the old bridge had to be completely demolished before the new bridge could be built. The central 350-foot (110 m) suspended span was lowered onto barges and floated away, while the rest of the bridge was dismantled piece by piece to maintain balance of the cantilever arms. The crossing was closed for a total of 17 months before the new bridge opened. The new bridge mimicked the old bridge's shape and scale, although it used box members instead of lattice beams and was of a continuous truss design instead of a cantilever-and-suspended-span design.

The original bridge was capped by four decorative finial spires; these were saved and put on public display. One sits in a park in downtown Sewickley, along with the keystone-shaped builder's plaque from the original bridge. Another is near the old Sewickley train station between Route 65 and the river, near the north end of the current bridge; the third spire is at Station Square in Pittsburgh. The fourth is on display across the river in Coraopolis.

Text imported from Wikipedia article "Sewickley Bridge" and modified on July 23, 2019 according to the CC-BY-SA 4.0 International license.

Relevant Web Sites

  • About this
    data sheet
  • Structure-ID
    20006129
  • Published on:
    11/10/2002
  • Last updated on:
    29/10/2023
Structurae cooperates with
International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering (IABSE)
e-mosty Magazine
e-BrIM Magazine