Vanport Bridge
The Vanport Bridge at dusk.
Coordinates40°40′45″N 80°19′53″W / 40.67917°N 80.33139°W / 40.67917; -80.33139
Carries4 lanes of I-376
CrossesOhio River
LocaleVanport Township, Pennsylvania
Maintained byPennDOT
Characteristics
DesignContinuous truss bridge
Longest span220 m
History
Opened1968
Location
Heading northbound on I-376 across the bridge

The Vanport Bridge is a four-lane continuous truss bridge that carries Interstate 376 across the Ohio River in Beaver County, Pennsylvania.

History and notable features

A total of $10,476,268 was spent on construction of the 1,762-foot bridge over the Ohio River connecting Vanport and Potter townships, which was opened to traffic on December 23, 1968.[1] As a vital part of the Beaver Valley Expressway it was carrying approximately 30,000 vehicles daily in 1990.[2]

In January 1990, the bridge was closed for three days after corrosion and fourteen cracks in welds were discovered during a routine Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) inspection. The cracks ranged in size from seven to thirty-four inches. Damage was located in the bottom truss plate that held the steel box beam in the central span.[3] Passenger traffic was rerouted to the Rochester–Monaca Bridge; trucks — to the Shippingport Bridge. The Vanport Bridge remained restricted to traffic until October 2001, when an out of control apple truck crashed into a crew of carpenters, killing five. It reopened shortly after.

See also

[4]==References==

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vanport Bridge.
  1. ↑ Pennsylvania Road Builder, 1970, Volumes 43-44, page 50.
  2. ↑ A Performance Audit of the PA Department of Transportation, Pursuant to Act 1981-35: Final Report.
  3. ↑ Vanport Bridge diagnosis, The Pittsburgh Press, January 5, 1990.
  4. ↑ "I Had No Brakes," The Beaver County Times, October 11, 2001
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