OFFICIAL NAME:
Panther Hollow Bridge
OTHER DESIGNATION:
LOCATION:
Pittsburgh (Schenley Park)
USGS 7.5" Topo Quad - UTM Coordinates:
Pittsburgh East - Zone 17; 0589 4776
CARRIES:
Schenley Drive, motor vehicles, four lanes
BETWEEN:
--
CROSSES:
-- Panther Hollow; Lake Trail; Panther Hollow Bridle Path; streams
TYPE OF CONSTRUCTION / DESIGN:
three-hinged deck arch
LENGTH OF MAIN SPAN:
360 ft
TOTAL LENGTH (including longest elevated ramp):
620 ft
HEIGHT OF DECK:
120 ft est
YEAR ERECTED / ENGINEER:
1897, Henry B. Rust, City of Pittsburgh
ADDITIONAL INFO:
In 1890, a temporary trestle was constructed across Junction Hollow. The present Schenley Bridge replaced this structure in 1897. One of the original plans was to remove the temporary trestle and re-erect it over Panther Hollow. It has been speculated that the fire which destroyed the Schenley Casino near the temporary bridge was also a factor leading to the erection of a wholly new bridge at Panther Hollow. As built, the Schenley Bridge and the Panther Hollow Bridge are near twins -- built concurrently.
The similarity of the Schenley Bridge over Junction Hollow and the Panther Hollow Bridge adds to the confusion over the names of the hollows each crosses. Aside from the chain-link fences installed on the Schenley Bridge in 1995, the "Panthers" by Giuseppe Moretti (1859-1935) provide the signature which easily distinguishes the pair of structures. A bronze mountain lion stands ready for the hunt at each corner of the Panther Hollow Bridge.
Edward Bigelow, director of Pittsburgh's Department of Public Works, and Arthur Anton Hamerschlag, the first president of Carnegie Institute of Technology (later CMU), provided many commissions to Moretti. These include the Bigelow statue in front of Phipps Conservatory (Bigelow had the unusual honor of attending the dedcation of his own statue), Stephen Foster near the Carnegie on Forbes Av, the sculptures at the entrance to Highland Park and eight other works in Pittsburgh.
FIELD CHECKED:
03-Oct-2000
INFO SOURCES:
Gay and Evert "Discovering Pittsburgh's Sculpture"
