Belle Vernon Bridge

The Belle Vernon Bridge, also called the Speers Bridge or Speers/Belle Vernon Bridge, carries Interstate 70 across the Monongahela River from Speers east to Rostraver Township in the state of Pennsylvania. Around 1951 it replaced an earlier low-level bridge, which connected Pennsylvania Route 88 via State Street with Pennsylvania Route 906 at the I-70 east ramps, just to the south of the current bridge. The old bridge carried Legislative Route 118 and Pennsylvania Route 71 until those were moved to the new bridge when it opened.

Belle Vernon Bridge
Coordinates	40.127°N 79.878°W / 40.127; -79.878
Carries	4 lanes of I-70
Crosses	Monongahela River
Locale	North Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania and Speers, Pennsylvania
Other name(s)	Speers Bridge
Characteristics
Design	Steel arch bridge
Total length	2,066 feet (630 m)
Longest span	450.2 feet (137.2 m)
History
Opened	1951
Statistics
Daily traffic	approx. 35,000

History

The new bridge was authorized by President Truman on 22 June 1946.[1]

Incidents

Trolley services were disrupted when a girder for the new bridge fell, severing the wires in 1951.[2] Several people were injured by flying debris when one of the supports for the previous bridge was demolished by blasting in 1955.[3]

See also

• List of crossings of the Monongahela River

References

1. "Bridge Is Authorized". The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. August 16, 1951. Retrieved December 18, 2012.
2. "37-Ton Girder Falls at Bridge". The Pittsburgh Press. June 23, 1946. Retrieved December 6, 2012.
3. "Explosion In Razing Of Old Speers Bridge". The Washington Observer. June 25, 1955. Retrieved December 6, 2012.

External links

• Photos of the old and new bridges