Andy Warhol Bridge
From north bank of the Allegheny River, looking southwest, downtown Pittsburgh in background, Roberto Clemente Bridge at right. Shows main plate girder (bearing compressive forces) and sidewalk support.
Coordinates40°26′46″N 80°00′05″W / 40.44611°N 80.00139°W / 40.44611; -80.00139
CarriesSeventh Street
CrossesAllegheny River
Official nameAndy Warhol Bridge
Named forAndy Warhol
Maintained byAllegheny County
Characteristics
DesignSuspension bridge
Total length1,061 ft (323 m)
Width62 ft (19 m) Vertical clearance above 78 ft towers
Height83.5 ft (25.5 m)
History
Constructed byAmerican Bridge Company
Construction start1925
Construction end1926
OpenedJune 17, 1926
NRHP reference No.86000018
Significant dates
Added to NRHPJanuary 7, 1986
Designated PHLF1988[1]
Location

Andy Warhol Bridge, also known as the Seventh Street Bridge, spans the Allegheny River in Downtown Pittsburgh. It is the only bridge in the United States named for a visual artist. It was opened at a cost of $1.5 million[2] on June 17, 1926, in a ceremony attended by 2,000.[3]

History and architectural features

Named for the artist Andy Warhol, a Pittsburgh native, this structure is one of three parallel bridges called The Three Sisters, the others being the Roberto Clemente Bridge and the Rachel Carson Bridge. The Three Sisters are self-anchored suspension bridges and are historically significant because they are the only trio of nearly identical bridges — as well as the first self-anchored suspension spans — built in the United States.

The bridge was renamed for Warhol on March 18, 2005, as part of the tenth-anniversary celebration for the Andy Warhol Museum. The museum is nearby at 117 Sandusky Street, a street which leads to the bridge from the north side of the river on Pittsburgh's North Shore.

On August 11, 2013, the Andy Warhol Bridge was covered with 580 knitted and crocheted panels in a yarn bombing project known as Knit the Bridge that lasted for four weeks.[4]

This is the third bridge on the site, the first having been demolished in early 1884. Construction of its replacement began in 1884,[5] opening to traffic in 1887.[6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Historic Landmark Plaques 1968-2009 (PDF). Pittsburgh, PA: Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation. 2010. Retrieved 2024-01-04.
  2. ↑ "The Pittsburgh Press - Google News Archive Search".
  3. ↑ The Pittsburgh Press – Google News Archive Search
  4. ↑ Hamilton, Anita (August 13, 2013). "Pittsburgh Bridge Gets a 'Yarn Bomb' Makeover". Time.
  5. ↑ "A novel and profitable plan of construction for the new seventh street bridge". Pittsburgh Commercial Gazette. 23 Nov 1883. p. 2. Retrieved 5 October 2018 – via newspapers.com. (make the piers) longer than they are now which is sixty-six feet
  6. ↑ "Local Laconics". Altoona Times. 22 January 1887. p. 4. Retrieved 5 October 2018 – via newspapers.com. Levi H. Kantner, the 16-year-old son of Mr. D. T. Kantner, of the Altoona Gas Works, had the pleasure of being the first bicycler to cross the new Seventh street bridge on a wheel. Levi Kantner won't be beat in anything he undertakes that is, he won't if he can help it.

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