Nostalgia & History > Ohio Connecting Bridge No. 3 Pictures

I did a search on the Historic Pittsburgh website for Ohio Connecting Bridge No. 3.  Below are 5 pictures from that search.   
 
Picture 1, Title Pile Driver at Ohio Connecting Railway Bridge.  Creator Pennsylvania Railroad.
Date February 10, 1915.  Description View of the special pile driver located at the west leg of "Y" of the Ohio Connecting Railway Bridge (Bridge No. 3), with a train crossing the bridge. This is one of a series of photos documenting the reconstruction and addition of a second track to the Ohio Connecting Railway Bridge, which spans the Ohio River and connects Brunot Island with Pittsburgh. 
 

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Picture 2, a portion of picture 1 enlarged. 
 

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Picture 3, Title Reconstruction of the Ohio Connecting Bridge.  Creator Pennsylvania Railroad.  Date August 23, 1915.  Description.  View of men unloading a 58 ton end post onto the tracks to be placed into position on span number 3 of the Ohio Connecting Railway Bridge (Bridge No. 3). This is one of a series of photos documenting the reconstruction and addition of a second track to the Ohio Connecting Railway Bridge, which spans the Ohio River and connects Brunot Island with Pittsburgh. 
 

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Picture 4, Title Ohio Connecting Railway Bridge.  Creator Pennsylvania Railroad.  Date July 21, 1914.  Description View of the removal of the old span number 10 from the Ohio Connecting Railway Bridge (Bridge No. 3). This is one of a series of photos documenting the reconstruction and addition of a second track to the bridge, which spans the Ohio River and connects Brunot Island with Pittsburgh. 
 

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Picture 5, Title Ohio Connecting Railway Bridge.  Creator Pennsylvania Railroad.  Date March 12, 1914.  Description View looking west on the south side of the Ohio Connecting Railway Bridge (Bridge No. 3) from span number 8. This is one of a series of photos documenting the reconstruction and addition of a second track to the bridge, which spans the Ohio River and connects Brunot Island with Pittsburgh.
 

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Great bunch of historic images here! This whole series loudly showcases America's industrial might of the day, flexing its muscle. Especially image #3! Wow, what a photograph...

Lance/199

Great pics of when America could get it done right!!!!!!  Without wasteful study after study....

I like pic #4.    Pittsburgh Screw and Bolt Company....



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/11/19 12:19 by bluesboyst.

#1 & 2 have the neg reversed. In the background the lettering shows it.

flynn Wrote:
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> Picture 4, Title Ohio Connecting Railway Bridge. 
> Creator Pennsylvania Railroad.  Date July 21,
> 1914.  Description View of the removal of the old
> span number 10 from the Ohio Connecting Railway
> Bridge (Bridge No. 3). This is one of a series of
> photos documenting the reconstruction and addition
> of a second track to the bridge, which spans the
> Ohio River and connects Brunot Island with
> Pittsburgh. 

The purpose of the Ohio Connecting Bridge was to connect the Fort Wayne Division (Pittsburgh-Chicago) on the north bank of the Ohio River with the Panhandle Division on the south bank of the Ohio.  The bridge gave PRR a great deal of operational flexibility, allowing many freight trains to bypass the passenger station by using the Panhandle tracks on the south bank of the Ohio and Monongahela Rivers.  The original single-track bridge was built in 1890, and it was rebuilt in 1915 as a much heavier, double track structure, as shown the photos.  There are two through truss spans over the north and south channels of the Ohio River, and deck trusses at each end, and deck trusses over Brunot Island, in between the north and south channels.  The bridge had an unusual feature, a car elevator on Brunot Island, which raised and lowered railcars between the bridge and the island.  There was a large coal fired power plant on the island, and a short railroad to connect the power plant with the car elevator.  The plant got most of its coal by barge, but apparently did receive some shipments by rail.  The spur to the power plant was on the upstream side of the bridge, in between the two through truss spans.  I'm not sure of the exact date, but believe the power plant closed around 1970.  The elevator is long gone.  The OC Bridge also had a pedestrian walkway for employees of the power plant to walk across the southern through truss span, onto the island, as there never was a highway bridge linking Brunot Island to the mainland.   

Great set of photos!  Thanks for finding them and posting them.

2-10-2, You have good eyes.   

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