Weathering Steel Pedestrian Bridge Preserves Beauty of Park Area

The 47-mile Montour Trail links with the Great Allegheny Passage, a 150-mile trail network that extends from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Cumberland, Maryland, where it connects to the C&O Canal Towpath to Washington, DC.

Situated adjacent to the Montour Trail is the southern border of the town of South Park, Pennsylvania, but trail users had no way to access the recreational facilities and special events held there. To provide this much-needed connection, the Allegheny County Parks Foundation, in partnership with Allegheny County, initiated a project to construct a two-mile trail through Sleepy Hollow to link the Montour Trail with South Park. One of the challenges provided by the project was the need for a pedestrian bridge over one of the area’s streams.

Steel Solution

The Allegheny County Parks Foundation needed a pedestrian bridge that would preserve the beauty of the idyllic setting while being cost-effective with limited funding. The original bridge design specified a box culvert. However, this decision was changed in favor of a weathering steel bridge in order to blend the bridge with its surroundings. The steel short span bridge also provided a substantial cost savings of 50 percent to the owner.

32-foot span South Park Montour Connector Trail Bridge

Contech Engineered Solutions LLC, a member of the Short Span Steel Bridge Alliance, delivered the new 32-foot span South Park Montour Connector Trail Bridge by flatbed truck, and the contractor hoisted it by crane into place within a few hours on April 18, 2013. The bridge was designed using the AASHTO LRFD Guide Specification, with a live load of 90 psf and a vehicle load of H10.

“When decisions were being made regarding the South Park Montour Connector Trail Pedestrian Bridge, it was suggested to us by John Surma, the former chairman of the Parks Foundation as well as former CEO and chairman of the board of United States Steel Corporation, that we consider a short span steel bridge,” said Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald. “The ease and efficiency of planning and installation of the bridge, and the public’s immediate embrace of it in the park, only reinforced our decision to use short span steel. We’re thrilled with the result and will certainly keep this experience in mind when looking at other projects in the County.”

Weathering steel was used to blend the bridge with its surroundings.

For Montour Trail users and the residents of South Park, steel provided an aesthetically pleasing and cost-effective link to bring both together.

Bridge Facts

Location: South Park, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
Owner: Allegheny County
Type of Bridge: Pedestrian weathering steel with concrete deck
Length/Width: 32-feet long by 10-feet wide
Model: Truss – Underhung
Contractor: Charles J. Merlo, Inc.
Fabricator: Contech Engineered Solutions LLC