Charleroi-Monessen Bridge
Photos
3/4 View From East
Photo taken by Historic American Engineering Record
View photos at Library of Congress
BH Photo #137287
Description
It is significant as a rare surviving example of a long, multiple-span metal truss bridge. Built as a toll bridge to carry vehicular, pedestrian, and trolley traffic across the Monongahela River, the bridge improved regional transportation and contributed toward the economic development of Monongahela River valley towns. Construction of a bridge across the Monongahela River at North Charleroi surmounted a formidable natural barrier and completed a regional street railroad transportation network that stretched from urban Pittsburgh to developing Westmoreland County.- Historic American Engineering Record
Facts
- Overview
- Through truss bridge over Monongahela River on PA 2018 in Charleroi
- Location
- Charleroi, Washington County, Pennsylvania, and Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania
- Status
- Demolished by PennDOT A Few Minutes Before 9:00 AM EDT, July 11, 2011
- History
- Built 1906 by the Mercantile Bridge Co.; rehabilitated 1986; closed 2009
- Builders
- - American Bridge Co. of New York
- Mercantile Bridge Co.
- Design
- Pennsylvania through truss with Parker Truss spans on either side
- Dimensions
-
Length of largest span: 400.0 ft.
Total length: 1,810.1 ft.
Deck width: 22.6 ft.
Vertical clearance above deck: 12.0 ft.
- Recognition
- Posted to the National Register of Historic Places on June 22, 1988
- Approximate latitude, longitude
- +40.15167, -79.90500 (decimal degrees)
40°09'06" N, 79°54'18" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 17/593262/4445165 (zone/easting/northing)
- Quadrangle map:
- Monongahela
- Average daily traffic (as of 2012)
- 9,084
- Inventory numbers
- PA 62 2018 0010 0089 (Pennsylvania Bridge Management System number)
NRHP 88000812 (National Register of Historic Places reference number)
PANBI 34914 (Pennsylvania BRKEY bridge number on the 2011 NBI)
BH 31746 (Bridgehunter.com ID) - Inspection report (as of August 2010)
- Overall condition: Poor
Superstructure condition rating: Imminent Failure (1 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Deck condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Sufficiency rating: 5 (out of 100)
View more at BridgeReports.com
Update Log
- July 11, 2011: Updated by Nathan Holth: This bridge has been demolished.
- March 8, 2011: Updated by Nathan Holth: Added Planned Demolition Date.
- September 29, 2010: New photos from Jason Smith
- November 29, 2009: New photos from Brian McKee
- July 22, 2009: New photos from James Baughn
- July 11, 2009: New photos from Brian McKee
- June 25, 2009: Updated by Ian Anderson
- April 18, 2009: Posted HAER photos
Sources
- HAER PA-467 - Charleroi-Monessen Bridge, Spanning Monongahela River at State Route 2018, North Charleroi, Washington County, PA
- Ian Anderson - macsignals [at] gmail [dot] com
- Brian McKee - bjmckee51 [at] yahoo [dot] com
- James Baughn - webmaster [at] bridgehunter [dot] com
- Jason Smith - flensburg [dot] bridgehunter [dot] av [at] googlemail [dot] com
- Nathan Holth
- Fox news video of bridge implosion July 11, 2011
- Wikipedia
- Historicbridges.org - by Nathan Holth
- Todd Wilson
Comments
Here is an article that explains some of the issues that the contractor has run into with the reconstruction project.
Story Link: http://www.observer-reporter.com/article/20130115/NEWS01/130...
The new bridge will be a haunched steel girder design, similar to the Veterans Bridge in Downtown Pittsburgh. All of the piers have been replaced and use formliners to simulate textured stone.
High quality picture of the new bridge under construction:
http://orweb.sx2.atl.publicus.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=...
When this bridge reopens in 2013, it will be renamed the Gov. John K. Tener Memorial Bridge.
Link to story:
The implosion, with slow-mo.
Saw this video of the bridge's demolition on the Weather Channel's website:
http://www.weather.com/outlook/videos/raw-historic-bridge-is...
Came across a news article about the bridge, it was closed last month due to structural problems, and now it appears this bridge's fate is in question.
http://www.observer-reporter.com/OR/Story/03-27-Charleroi-Br...
And here's historicbridges.org's website on the bridge, with pictures.
http://www.historicbridges.org/pennsylvania/charleroi/index....
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/pa/washington/charleroi-monessen/
If you look at the photo in the below post, you most certainly will need a...