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The Union Bridge

No more attempts were made to bridge both rivers at the Point with a single structure. Shortly after the abandonment of the tri-partite scheme, an association of citizens with Mr. Joshua Rhodes as president applied for and obtained a charter for building a structure known as the Union Bridge from Allegheny to the Point. This bridge, which may also have been designed by Charles Davis, was constructed in 1874-75 and opened to traffic in the latter year. (14)

The Union Bridge was the last wooden highway river bridge constructed at Pittsburgh. It was a long Howe truss bridge with auxiliary arches and twin sidewalks. (15) There were elaborate portals at each end which Allen says were stone, but which were probably constructed of wood to represent stone. It was constructed in five spans whose numerous piers were undoubtedly an obstruction to navigation and this factor, together with the low clearance of the spans, caused the eventual demolition of the bridge in 1907. (16)

A recent writer on Pittsburgh bridges, Mrs. Elizabeth Taylor Herbertson, has stated in her book that "the Manchester Bridge was also the site of the first rope span," (17) but this ambiguous statement has absolutely no foundation in fact. There was no bridge at the Point prior to 1874, as we have stated above.

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