Rating:
9 votes

George C. Platt Bridge

Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania

Photos 

Phila Platt Bridge01

Looking southwest from the SUNOCO refinery

Photo taken by D. Thomsen

Enlarge

BH Photo #169972

Map 

Street Views 

View Uglybridges.com report

Facts 

Overview
Cantilevered through truss bridge over Schuylkill River on PA 291 (Penrose Avenue) in Philadelphia
Location
Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania
Status
Open to traffic
History
Built 1949; rehabilitated 1984
Builder
- Modjeski & Masters of Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania
Design
Cantilevered through truss
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 680.2 ft.
Total length: 8,780.3 ft. (1.7 mi.)
Deck width: 47.9 ft.
Vertical clearance above deck: 17.5 ft.
Also called
Penrose Avenue Bridge
Approximate latitude, longitude
+39.89779, -75.21156   (decimal degrees)
39°53'52" N, 75°12'42" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
18/481914/4416434 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Philadelphia
Inventory numbers
PA 67 0291 0060 0000 (Pennsylvania Bridge Management System number)
PANBI 38666 (Pennsylvania BRKEY bridge number on the 2011 NBI)
BH 31529 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Inspection (as of 05/2008)
Deck condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Superstructure condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Appraisal: Functionally obsolete
Sufficiency rating: 47.0 (out of 100)
Average daily traffic (as of 2010)
27,304

Categories 

Arched Cantilever Truss (20)
Built 1949 (357)
Built during 1940s (3,571)
Cantilevered (297)
Cantilevered truss (251)
Functionally obsolete (7,992)
Have street view (22,091)
Modjeski & Masters (18)
Navigable waterway (1,998)
Open (36,590)
 Over a mile long (260)
Owned by state (13,689)
Pennsylvania (4,202)
Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania (160)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (142)
Schuylkill River (72)
Span length 500-1000 feet (380)
Through truss (12,900)
Total length over 2500 feet (793)
Truss (29,451)

Update Log 

  • February 2, 2012: Updated by Nathan Holth: Added Builder.
  • July 19, 2010: New photos from D. Thomsen
  • April 13, 2010: Updated by Nathan Holth: Fixed GPS
  • November 29, 2008: Updated by Ian Anderson: Fixed name

Sources 

  • Ian Anderson - macsignals [at] gmail [dot] com
  • Nathan Holth
  • D. Thomsen - dcthomsen [at] comcast [dot] net
  • Wikipedia
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Comments 

George C. Platt Memorial Bridge
Posted March 29, 2012, by Ali (gcplattbridge [at] gmail [dot] com)

Official Name: George C. Platt Memorial Bridge

Daily Traffic: 56,000

Official PennDOT website: http://www.PlattBridge.com

George C. Platt Bridge
Posted February 2, 2012, by Nathan Holth (form3 [at] historicbridges [dot] org)

Bill,

I checked the original bridge plans and the bridge was designed by Modjeski and Masters. Not sure who the on-site construction contractor was.

George C. Platt Bridge
Posted February 2, 2012, by Bill (Bill [at] pa [dot] net)

Who originally built it? Where can I find more information? Google has not been much help. Thanks!

George C. Platt Bridge
Posted September 11, 2011, by Max (neonmask [at] gmail [dot] com)

I've walked this birdge. The enitre frame is rusitng and crumbling. It offers the ugliest view of Philadlephia you'll find. Just crossing it i felt seriosuly depressed and diheartend by the enormous oil refinerys and the poluted taste of the air there is sickening. Half way across a police car came by, he said "Are you okay sir? We've been getting alot calls"...people don't walk there at all unless their about to be done with the world. And being up there...I felt that energy. It's erie.

Penrose Avenue Bridge
Posted April 11, 2008, by William Flis (flis [at] detk [dot] com)

In the 1970s, it was renamed the George C. Platt Bridge.