You are here

Western Pennsylvania » The Western Capital—Pittsburgh and Allegheny County » The Ohio Valley » West End Bridge

West End Bridge

-A A +A
1930–1932, Vernon Covell and George S. Richardson, engineers. U.S. 19 and the Ohio River
  • (Photograph by Cbaile19)
  • West End Bridge with McKees Bridge in background (Photograph by Andrewwinn, CC BY 2.0)

This and the McKees Rocks Bridge (1931, George S. Richardson, engineer; Ohio River Blvd., Termon Ave., and the Ohio River) went up as part of Allegheny County's energetic interwar program of improvements to its infrastructure, especially bridges and roads. The West End Bridge capitalizes on the 755-foot clear span of its steel parabolic arch to make an unforgettable impression as it bounds over the Ohio and simultaneously frames a view of Pittsburgh's Point. The McKees Rocks Bridge, a mere 2.5 miles northwest, unites five different units to achieve its length of nearly a mile over the “bottoms” of McKees Rocks and the Ohio. The engineering solution was to use a central through-arch of steel over the river itself, with vertical stays stiffening the deck and four severe stone pylons to give appropriate structural and visual support.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Lu Donnelly et al.
×

Data

Timeline

  • 1930

    Built

What's Nearby

Carnegie Science Center
Calvary United Methodist Church
Emmanuel Episcopal Church
Houses on Liverpool Street
Allegheny West

Citation

Lu Donnelly et al., "West End Bridge", [Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/PA-01-AL61.

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, 85-85.

If SAH Archipedia has been useful to you, please consider supporting it.

SAH Archipedia tells the story of the United States through its buildings, landscapes, and cities. This freely available resource empowers the public with authoritative knowledge that deepens their understanding and appreciation of the built environment. But the Society of Architectural Historians, which created SAH Archipedia with University of Virginia Press, needs your support to maintain the high-caliber research, writing, photography, cartography, editing, design, and programming that make SAH Archipedia a trusted online resource available to all who value the history of place, heritage tourism, and learning.

,