Walnut Street Bridge (Pennsylvania)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

**Walnut Street Bridge**
The People's Bridge.
Carries	Pedestrians
Crosses	Susquehanna River
Locale	Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Design	Wrought iron truss bridge
Longest span	240 feet
Total length	2801 feet
Opening date	1890

The Walnut Street Bridge also known as The People's Bridge, is a truss bridge that spans the Susquehanna River in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Built by the Phoenix Bridge Company in 1890, it is the oldest remaining bridge connecting Harrisburg's downtown and Riverfront Park with the West Shore.

The bridge was built to break the toll monopoly enjoyed by the neighboring Camelback Bridge (now the Market Street Bridge). The Walnut Street Bridge was closed to motor vehicles and converted to a pedestrian and bikeway link to City Island after the 1972 Hurricane Agnes flood. The eastern span of the bridge is outlined in lights which, along with the City Island facilities, create a dynamic visual effect at night. The 2,801 foot (854 m) span is one of the longest pedestrian bridges in the world. The conversion to pedestrian use gave the bridge a new purpose and it used by over a million visitors, tourists and residents annually. The bridge is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is also recognized as a Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.

1 1996 Collapse
2 References
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] 1996 Collapse

Image:Walnut street br1.jpg

In January 1996 the Walnut Street bridge lost three of its seven western spans to ice damage. Shortly after the loss of the three western spans, the Peoples Bridge Coalition was formed to support the restoration of the bridge. Public surveys show overwhelming support for the restoration of the western spans. It is estimated that restoring the western span of the bridge will cost between $12-15 million dollars (December 2005).

Image:Walnut Street Bridge pedestrians.JPG

Shortly after the 1996 collapse, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation contracted Modjeski and Masters, Inc. to perform an inspection and analysis to prevent the possibility of future collapse of the remaining structure. A $5 million rehabilitation project was later conducted on the eastern span of the bridge. Now the eastern section of the bridge from Harrisburg to City Island is open to the public.

[edit] References

Walnut Street Bridge collapse 1996: Northwestern University
Jackson, Donald C. (1984). Great American Bridges and Dams. John Wiley & Sons, New York (USA). ISBN 0-471-14385-5.
Walnut Street Bridge. ASCE History and Heritage of Civil Engineering. Retrieved on 2006-07-04.