Hot Metal Bridge

Hot Metal Bridge
Roadway south portal from the bike trail.
Official name	Monongahela Connecting Railroad Bridge and Hot Metal Bridge
Other name(s)	MC RR Bridge, Mon Con Bridge, pghe588-14
Carries	South 29th Street Mon Con: motor vehicles, 2 lanes Hot Metal: converted for pedestrian and bicycles
Crosses	Monongahela River
Locale	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Designer	William Glyde Wilkins?
Design	Truss bridge
Total length	1,174 feet (358 m)
Longest span	321 feet (98 m)
Vertical clearance	48.4 feet (14.8 m)
Clearance below	48.4 feet
Opened	1887
Historic Bridge Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation Historic Landmark Location of the Hot Metal Bridge in Pittsburgh Coordinates: 40°25′42″N 79°57′39″W / 40.428268°N 79.960776°W / 40.428268; -79.960776Coordinates: 40°25′42″N 79°57′39″W / 40.428268°N 79.960776°W / 40.428268; -79.960776 PHLF designated: 2009

The Hot Metal Bridge is a truss bridge in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that crosses the Monongahela River. The bridge consists of two parallel spans on a single set of piers: the former Monongahela Connecting Railroad Bridge, built in 1887, on the upstream side and the former Hot Metal Bridge, built in 1900, on the downstream side. The Monongahela Connecting Railroad Bridge carried conventional railroad traffic, while the Hot Metal Bridge connected parts of the J&L Steel mill, carrying crucibles of molten steel from the blast furnaces to the rolling mills on the opposite bank. The upstream span was converted to road use in 2000, connecting 2nd Avenue near South Oakland with Hot Metal Street (South 29th Street) in the South Side. The downstream span reopened for pedestrian and bicycle use in late 2007 after two years of work.

The Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation was responsible for managing the decorative lighting project for the bridge, which was lit with energy-efficient light-emitting diode (LED) and optical fiber technology on June 12, 2008.

2006 view, before the pedestrian and bicycle bridge opened

The Hot Metal Bridge is the namesake of the defunct Hot Metal Grille at the nearby South Side Works shopping center; the online magazine of the University of Pittsburgh, HotMetalBridge.org; and other local entities.

Popular Culture

The bridge was in several scenes of the 2011 film Warrior starring Jennifer Morrison and Nick Nolte.

See also

• List of crossings of the Monongahela River

External links

• Hot Metal Bridge at pghbridges.com
• Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Official reopening of the bridge after the conversion
• Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Article on conversion of bridge to pedestrian and bicycle use
• Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - High bids threaten the conversion project
• Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Groundbreaking on the new project