Who knew? Who knew that an alliance would one day be forged between Pittsburgh and Paris? Because of Donald J. Trump? Who knew that in Pittsburgh there was a bridge named after Rachel Carson, noted conservationist and naturalist.
As the sun sets each evening on the Allegheny River, Pittsburgh’s Rachel Carson Bridge lights up with 27,000 multi-colored bulbs. This nightly display downtown in the City of Bridges is powered entirely by 16 wind turbines attached to the arches of the bridge. It’s just one example of how a city once famous for its steel mills has emerged as a trailblazer in environmental innovation. . . .
Rachel Carson Bridge AKA the Ninth Street Bridge:
Rachel Carson Bridge, also known as the Ninth Street Bridge, spans the Allegheny River in Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The total length is 840 feet (260 m) including the 410-foot (120 m) main span and two 215-foot (66 m) side spans, or 995 feet (303 m) including the approaches. The total width of the deck is 62 feet (19 m), including the 38-foot (12 m) roadway plus two 10-foot (3.0 m) sidewalks outside the compressive plate girder. Whereas the roadway formerly carried two vehicle lanes and two streetcar tracks, it now carries two wide vehicle lanes.
Named for the naturalist Rachel Carson, a Pittsburgh native, it is one of three parallel bridges called The Three Sisters, the others being the Roberto Clemente Bridge and the Andy Warhol Bridge. The Three Sisters are self-anchored suspension bridges and are significant because they are the only trio of nearly identical bridges—as well as the first self-anchored suspension spans—built in the United States.
Who knew that Rachel Carson was a Pittsburgh native? And, there’s an Andy Warhol Bridge? In Pittsburgh?
There are 446 bridges? In Pittsburgh?
The Bridges of Pittsburgh play an important role in the city's transportation system. Without bridges, the Pittsburgh region would be a series of fragmented valleys, hillsides, river plains, and isolated communities.[1]
A 2006 study determined that Pittsburgh has 446 bridges, and with its proximity to three major rivers and countless hills and ravines, Pittsburgh is known as "The City of Bridges". The city of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County are the largest owners of great bridges in the country, in proper proportion to their size, with the possible exception of the City of New York, which is built on an island and surrounded by large bodies of water.
Well! It does seem appropriate, however, that a City of Bridges should align with Paris, City of Light? City of Love? City of Enlightenment?
Three Rivers. Four hundred and fort-six bridges. Rachel Carson. Wow!
Bridges beat the hell out of walls.