Charles Anderson Bridge - Bridges and Tunnels of Allegheny County and Pittsburgh, PA

View north near Boundary St

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OFFICIAL NAME:
Charles Anderson Memorial Bridge

OTHER DESIGNATION:
Blvd of the Allies #7

LOCATION:
Pittsburgh (Oakland - Schenley Park)

USGS 7.5" Topo Quad - UTM Coordinates:
Pittsburgh East - Zone 17; 0589 4776

CARRIES:
Blvd of the Allies, four lanes
sidewalk each side

BETWEEN:
-- Parkview Av (Oakland)
-- Schenley Park

CROSSES:
-- Boundary St; Four Mile Run; extension of Eliza Furnace Trail; Pittsburgh Junction RR [CSX]

TYPE OF CONSTRUCTION / DESIGN:
Wichert deck cantilever truss

LENGTH OF MAIN SPAN:

TOTAL LENGTH (including longest elevated ramp):

HEIGHT OF DECK:

YEAR ERECTED / ENGINEER:
1940

ADDITIONAL INFO:
Replaced the 1907 Wilmot St Bridge, an arch bridge which provided one of the original four bridge entrances into Schenley Park. The stone abutments from the previous bridge are adjacent to the north.

The Anderson Bridge is an example of the unusual "Wichert Self-Adjusting Truss" which was first employed on the Homestead High Level Bridge over the Monongahela River in 1936. The Wichert Truss is a cantilever spandrel-braced deck arch which is not a "true arch" bridge. The curved lower chord gives the bridge the form of an arch, but it does not rely on arch action to carry the load. The open diamond panel above each pier is the easily recogized mark of this truss type; without a vertical truss member in this hinged location. Before the use of computers, the interaction of forces on spans which crossed multiple supports was difficult to calculate. One solution to the problem was developed by E. M. Wichert of Pittsburgh, PA, in 1930. By introducing a open, hinged quadrilateral over the intermediate piers, each span could be calculated independently.

Charles Anderson was elected to the Pittsburgh City Council in 1920 and served into the 1930s. He had previously been a labor leader for the Plumbers Union, Local 27, plumbing inspector for the city from 1908 to 1917, an organizer for the American Federation of Labor, and a supervisor in the U. S. Department Labor during the First World War.

FIELD CHECKED:
28-Nov-2000

INFO SOURCES:
Western Pennsylvanians : a work for newspaper and library reference / compiled under the direction of the James O. Jones Company ; editors Charles Alexander Rook ... [et al.], 1923.

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Last modified: 14-Nov-2000

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