Carries 4 lanes of roadway Official name Liberty Bridge Maintained by Allegheny County Opened 27 March 1928 Total length 812 m Bridge type Cantilever bridge | Crosses Monongahela River Other name(s) South Hills Bridge Construction started December 1924 Clearance below 14 m Location Pittsburgh | |
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Locale Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Address Liberty Bridge, Pittsburgh, PA 15219, USA Similar Liberty Tunnel, Fort Pitt Bridge, Fort Duquesne Bridge, Birmingham Bridge, Glenwood Bridge | ||
The Liberty Bridge, completed in 1928, connects downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to the Liberty Tunnels and the South Hills neighborhoods beyond. It crosses the Monongahela River and intersects Interstate 579 (the Crosstown Boulevard) at its northern terminus.
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History
The Liberty Bridge was constructed as the missing link between downtown Pittsburgh and the Liberty Tunnel, which had been constructed four years earlier in 1924 as a link to the South Hills. The bridge opened on March 27, 1928, following a 5-mile (8.0 km) vehicle parade from the southern suburbs of the city, which crossed the Smithfield Street Bridge and proceeded through downtown before ending at the southern end of the new bridge.
Fire
On September 2, 2016 the Liberty Bridge was closed for 24 days, following a fire during construction work on the bridge. Intense heat from burning plastic piping had caused a 30-foot (9.1 m) steel beam (compression chord) to buckle. The bridge reopened to weight-limited traffic on September 27th, and full traffic on September 30th. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation assessed the value of the damages at over $3,000,000.