OFFICIAL NAME:
OTHER DESIGNATION:
43rd St Bridge
Ewalt St Bridge
LOCATION:
Pittsburgh - Millvale
USGS 7.5" Topo Quad - UTM Coordinates:
Pittsburgh East - Zone 17; 0587 4480
CARRIED:
vehicles
BETWEEN:
-- Butler Plank Rd (Millvale) on right descending bank of Allegheny River
-- 43rd St [formerly Ewalt St] (Lawrenceville, Pittsburgh) on right descending bank of Allegheny River
CROSSED:
-- Allegheny River at mile 3.4
TYPE OF CONSTRUCTION / DESIGN:
wooden covered, Burr arch truss, 4 spans
LENGTH OF MAIN SPAN:
TOTAL LENGTH (including longest elevated ramp):
HEIGHT OF DECK:
YEAR ERECTED / ENGINEER:
1870, removed 1924
ADDITIONAL INFO:
This bridge was replaced by the Washington Crossing Bridge at 40th St which opened in 1924.
The 1906 Hopkins map seems to show a grade crossing in Millvale for the approach of the bridge. A road leads from Butler Plank Rd past the Bennett Station of the West Penn Divison of the Pennsylvania RR and the Willow Grove Station of the Pittsburgh & Western RR [B&O RR]. The present track arrangement includes a viaduct which carries the railroads over the old location of the road. Millvale Borough uses the area for public works storage.
In Lawrenceville, a mass of concrete and debris marks the end of 43rd St. Although 43rd St was an important street leading to the bridge for 54 years, the buildings which line the street and mark the intersection at Butler St offer little clue. The next closest bridges would have been upstream at Sharpsburg and downstream at Herr's Island -- each about a mile away.
43rd St had been Ewalt St until the City of Pittsburgh's annexation of Lawrenceville and other adjoining areas in 1868 required the renaming of many streets to eliminate duplication.
FIELD CHECKED:
INFO SOURCES:
1906 Hopkins plat map
