Hulton Bridge
Facts
- Overview
- Through truss bridge over Allegheny River on PA 2082 in Oakmont
- Location
- Oakmont, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
- Status
- Demolished and replaced by PennDOT the morning of January 26, 2016.
- History
- Built 1909; rehabilitated 1991; Demolished 2016
- Builder
- - American Bridge Co. of New York
- Design
- Parker through truss
- Dimensions
-
Length of largest span: 504.9 ft.
Total length: 1,544.0 ft.
Deck width: 21.0 ft.
Vertical clearance above deck: 14.1 ft.
- Also called
- Jonathon Hulton Memorial Bridge
- Approximate latitude, longitude
- +40.52726, -79.84680 (decimal degrees)
40°31'38" N, 79°50'48" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 17/597676/4486919 (zone/easting/northing)
- Quadrangle map:
- New Kensington West
- Average daily traffic (as of 2014)
- 19,217
- Inventory numbers
- PA 02 2082 0010 0148 (Pennsylvania Bridge Management System number)
PANBI 01634 (Pennsylvania BRKEY bridge number on the 2011 NBI)
BH 30258 (Bridgehunter.com ID) - Inspection report (as of September 2014)
- Overall condition: Poor
Superstructure condition rating: Poor (4 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Deck condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Sufficiency rating: 16.6 (out of 100)
View more at BridgeReports.com
Update Log
- April 15, 2020: Updated by Nick Boppel: Not sure why this was designated as "Old" when the new bridge isn't listed (and shouldn't be)
- April 23, 2018: Updated by Amanda: Mark as old bridge & add official name
- May 5, 2016: New photos from Clark Vance
- January 30, 2016: New video from Don Morrison
- January 26, 2016: Updated by Nathan Holth: This bridge is demolished and replaced.
- January 14, 2016: Updated by Nathan Holth: Added planned demolition date.
- July 7, 2015: New photos from John Goold
- April 24, 2014: New Street View added by Luke Harden
- July 30, 2013: Updated by Nathan Holth: Added builder.
- June 17, 2013: Updated by Nathan Holth: Added expected date of replacement and demolition!
- August 1, 2012: New photo from Clark Vance
- September 19, 2011: New photos from John Goold
- August 14, 2011: New video from John Goold
- January 4, 2009: New photos from Brian McKee
Sources
- Brian McKee - bjmckee51 [at] yahoo [dot] com
- Pghbridges.com
- Historicbridges.org - by Nathan Holth
- Bridgemapper.com
- John Goold - BlueWilliamus [at] yahoo [dot] com
- Ugly Concrete Eyesore Bridge - Dead link Coming soon to Oakmont
- Clark Vance - cvance [at] dogmail [dot] com
- Todd Wilson
- Money has been allocated - Dead link Here comes the Ugly Concrete Eyesore Bridge
- Nathan Holth
- Luke
- News Article On Demo
- Don Morrison
- Nick Boppel - nickboppel01 [at] gmail [dot] com
Comments
It's a video gif; loads into the videos section, more or less.
A sin.
Article on the demolition, which includes videos of the event, PLUS a documentary on building the bridge. More here:
Hulton Bridge near Pittsburgh brought down by explosives, capping a systematic bulldozing project to replace the bridge despite stark opposition from locals, historians and preservationists, its speed comparable to Chuck Yeager's sound barrier flight: http://thebridgehunter.areavoices.com/2016/01/26/hulton-brid...
Nice video of a drive across the bridge. Beautiful bridge and looks to be in good shape. Its a real shame they'd rather scrap it than repurpose it.
The new bridge has opened. The old bridge is scheduled to be imploded in January.
http://www.post-gazette.com/news/transportation/2015/10/20/G...
The end is getting closer:
http://www.sharonherald.com/news/state/historic-oakmont-brid...
any latest information on this bridge nathan?
Nathan,
It's pretty but it would clash stylistically and in color with the nearby Neshanic Station lenticular. :^)
How about replacing Pond Eddy with this?
Regards,
Art S.
Art,
Yes, it is pin-connected. A more extensive discussion of this: http://www.historicbridges.org/bridges/browser/?bridgebrowse...
Let me know if you would like this bridge in your back yard.
Is this bridge pin connected?
It doesn't matter how much frosting you put on a turd, it's still not going to turn into a birthday cake.
You can paint it a Rainbow of colors, cover it in rich fabrics and lace, sprinkle it with glitter and rhinestones, and polish it to a mirror-like finish...
But a turd is still a turd!
I love how they are defending the UCEB by calling it simple but elegant. I have found no matter how they package a UCEB it is still a UCEB with money wasted. It seems both ODOT and Penn Dot are sparing structurally deficient and in need of repair UCEBS and Steel Stringer Bridges to replace rather then rehabilitate beautiful truss bridges.
Hey Nathan, can I borrow that bag for the bridge in MN, the one that is scheduled to come out? I'll definitely need it! Thx...
Before you look at the rendering in the news article below, you might want to grab a...
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsbur...
Look at the ugly bridge that is going to replace this beauty.
The other choice is why not build another bridge downstream a few blocks and then put a strict weight limit on this bridge. The decreased weight and traffic flow will take a lot of stress of this bridge. What is sad about seeing this bridge go is the fact that it is most likely in the best condition of any bridge from that era in the world.
This bridge is a must see for historic bridge lovers. Words cannot describe the experience a person gets going over this bridge. It seems that this bridge has a lot of its original parts and workmanship intact. The experience of going over this bridge reminded me a great deal of going over the Old Williamstown Bridge in Marietta, OH or the Old Masontown Bridge. This bridge is easy to reach from the PA turnpike and should be experienced before it is lost forever. It is also worth fighting for because the thought of this bridge being demolished despite the fact that it is over 100 years old and is in beautiful condition is wrong. Oakmont, PA needs to take a lesson from McConnellsville, OH. Build your modern slab bridge in another area and route all your through traffic and trucks onto that bridge. The Hulton Bridge will last longer with the reduced traffic load. When money becomes available rehabilitate the bridge. The current approaches and the surrounding areas don't lend themselves to a four land bridge anyways. Take my word for it, Oakmont will be rewarded handsomely in the form of tourist dollars if they preserve this bridge. Plenty of us Ohioans will be glad to relive the old times by experiencing this bridge and enjoying a meal at the nearby Ponderosa because both the historic bridges and the Ponderosas are gone from our state.
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/pa/allegheny/hulton/
Nice memorial piece:
http://phlf.org/2016/01/29/19388/