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as through Lock No. 1, and about one-sixteenth as much goes through Lock No. 3 as through Lock No. 1. There is no navigation on the river above the third pool. It is claimed, however, that with the further canalization of the river above Dam No. 3 and the raising of the bridges this traffic would be greatly increased. It is to be hoped that there will be a considerable increase, but there are distinct limitations on the probable amount of the increase. The Monongahela has a larger and more highly favored local territory to draw upon for freight than the Allegheny so that under the best of conditions, with every possible improvement of navigation, the traffic on the Allegheny can never be expected to approach that upon the Monongahela.

The total amount of freight of all kinds passing Dam No. 1 on the Monongahela in 1909, was 5,417,873, or a little more than ten times the amount on the Allegheny, while the tonnage passing over the Allegheny bridges is thirty times greater than the tonnage on the Allegheny River.* Yet, if conceivably the traffic on the Allegheny should equal that now on the Monongahela, it would still be only one-third that over the Allegheny bridges.

Since the figures for the present traffic over the Allegheny River bridges are used for comparison with the present river traffic, and since the former must continue to grow steadily with the growth of the Pittsburgh industrial district, it seems quite clear that no conceivable growth in the latter can seriously affect the overwhelming predominance of the bridge traffic in amount and value.*

* See Diagrams 1, 2 and 3.

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Last modified on 22-Dec 1999
Design format: copyright 1997-1999 Bruce S. Cridlebaugh
Original document: Frederick Law Olmsted, 1910