Highland Park Bridge (1902)


The 1902 Highland Park Bridge was a cantilever through truss bridge that carried two streetcar tracks across the Allegheny River and Sixmile Island between the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Highland Park and Sharpsburg, Pennsylvania. By the 1930s, the bridge had become notorious for its narrowness and chronic maintenance problems, prompting suggestions for replacement. This bridge, known also as the Highland Park Bridge opened in 1938.

Location

The bridge was erected in two sections, with the cantilever on the Pittsburgh side of Sixmile Island and a truss bridge on the Sharpsburg side. It was situated downstream from the 1938 Highland Park bridge, at the then downstream from the end of the island. However, contemporary maps and pictures imply that the island has moved almost its entire length downstream, making the bridge location the current upstream end of the island.