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Sixteenth Street Bridge

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David McCullough Bridge
1923, Warren and Wetmore, James Chalfant, engineer. 16th St. and the Allegheny River
  • (Photograph by Perry Quan, CC BY-SA 2.0)
  • (Photograph by Jim Henderson)

Like the “Three Sisters” bridges (AL13), the design of this span was overseen by Pittsburgh's Civic Arts Commission, which demanded a monumental aspect to what was the third bridge on this site. The New York architects had recently completed New York's Grand Central Terminal, and here, too, they employed oversized sculptures—in this case, giant bronze horses and globes by Leo Lentelli—to render the bridge a true civic monument. Two steel side arches flank a 437-foot center span, creating what has been described by bridge historian Steven Fenves as “an indeterminate hybrid, part trussed arch and part full-depth truss.” The abutments consist of high stone piers carrying Lentelli's horses and globes.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Lu Donnelly et al.
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Data

Timeline

  • 1923

    Built

What's Nearby

Citation

Lu Donnelly et al., "Sixteenth Street Bridge", [Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/PA-01-AL80.

Print Source

Cover: Buildings of PA vol 1

Buildings of Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania, Lu Donnelly, H. David Brumble IV, and Franklin Toker. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2010, 96-96.

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