The Jerome Street Bridge is an arch bridge across the Youghiogheny River connecting the east and west banks of the Pittsburgh industrial suburb of McKeesport, Pennsylvania . The bridge is a rare steel crescent arch bridge. A crescent arch is formed when the intrados and extrados (the ribs) of the arch are not parallel, but instead form two different curves beginning and ending together. The ribs form a truss at the top of the arch and join together in a solid rib at each end. A crescent arch is a two-hinged arch , the ribs are further apart where the bending moment is greatest and close together at each hinge where it is minimized.
7-397: This bridge was engineered by George S. Richardson . A Great Depression -era public works bond was provided to fund the creation of a new auto-centric four-lane highway bridge. The bridge was dedicated on May 3, 1938 and opened to traffic on May 4. Thousands of people attended the ceremony and parade to celebrate the new bridge. The total cost of the new bridge was $ 667,000. Originally,
14-624: A result, the Jerome Street designation was chosen, and it remains in place today, although it is sometimes referred to as the Lysle Boulevard Bridge. A 2022 project replaced the bridge deck using polyester polymer concrete , repaired the concrete substructure , and replaced the bridge bearings . The work was completed in November 2022. George S. Richardson (engineer) George Sherwood Richardson (1896–1988)
21-741: A stint with the Wyoming Department of Highways and time on the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania , Richardson moved to Pittsburgh in 1922 to work for the American Bridge Company before he joined the Allegheny County Department of Public Works in 1924, where he went on to rise to be assistant chief engineer by the time he left in 1937. In 1939 he founded his own firm, as George S. Richardson, Consulting Engineer; after taking on partners,
28-651: The Fifth Avenue Bridge stood on the site. This 1880's truss structure mainly served streetcar traffic and was inadequate for automobiles. It was intended that after the Jerome Street Bridge opened that the older, downstream Third Avenue Bridge (1884) would also be demolished. This suspension bridge structure was also unsafe for continued automobile use. A petition signed by 5,000 people made the Allegheny County commissioners reconsider
35-782: The firm was renamed to Richardson, Gordon & Associates in 1955. It has been involved in the planning and design of many major highway projects across the United States. In the 1980s, the company was acquired by international architectural and engineering conglomerate HDR, Inc. Among other notable work, the firm created the erection process and custom equipment used to put up the Eero Saarinen -designed Saint Louis Gateway Arch . Richardson retired in 1973 and moved from Pittsburgh in 1975, splitting time between homes in Tucson, Arizona and Colorado Springs, Colorado . He died of
42-566: The plan. The Third Avenue Bridge was kept open for pedestrians only, but was eventually demolished in 1960. After the city renamed Jerome Street which approached the bridge after incumbent Republican Mayor George Lysle, they proposed that the Youghiogheny crossing receive the same eponym . However, the Franklin Roosevelt administration contended that public works dollars could not be used to memorialize living officeholders. As
49-586: Was an American engineer known for his elegant bridges, innovative construction techniques and skillful planning of highways. Designer of many bridges in the Pittsburgh and Allegheny County areas in the 20th century, he has been called "the dean of Pittsburgh bridge engineers". Born in Georgetown, Colorado , he served in World War I prior to graduating from the University of Colorado in 1920. After
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