Bridges connect people and communities. This book, Pittsburgh’s Bridges, connects Pittsburgh’s residents to their past. Todd and Helen Wilson have written an authoritative and meticulous history of Pittsburgh’s architectural and engineering landmarks. The book will likely evoke readers’ memories about the roles Pittsburgh’s bridges played in visits to relatives, family vacations, sporting events, school field trips and other endeavors.
Todd and Helen Wilson have enriched Pittsburgh’s historical record. The book traces the bridges’ planning and construction from the standpoint of Pittsburgh’s history. They explain the economic rationale supporting the bridges. It is interesting to note the aesthetic sensitivity that city officials displayed in planning the bridges. They sought beauty as well as function.
Readers will likely marvel at the construction accomplishments in an era before computers. The authors describe how bridge design and construction techniques have evolved. They explain how engineers have drawn on the law of physics to achieve strength and durability. Engineers design bridges to optimize the distribution of the load’s weight. Some bridges operate according to the force of compression, whereas others function based on tension.
One particularly intriguing section on page 32 deals with suspension bridges. These bridges pose formidable construction and operating challenges. The Seventh Street Bridge embodies a self-anchored design patterned after the Cologne-Deutz Bridge in Germany. Additional discussion of suspension bridges would have enhanced the book.
Like downtown’s former venerable department stores, some bridges have disappeared. Pittsburgh has demolished some bridges due to obsolescence. The fortress-like Union Bridge, for example, was destroyed in 1907 because its low clearance blocked Allegheny River traffic.
The book spans only 127 pages, yet it amasses numerous facts and photos. The book’s succinct and clear prose supports a quick reading. I recommend it to Pittsburgh’s residents, friends and visitors.
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From the Publisher
Through a collection of vintage photographs, the Images of America series allows readers to explore the history that makes each city, town, or state unique.
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| Bethlehem Steel | 1964-1965 New York's World's Fair | Building the Washington National Cathedral | Prince George's County Maryland | The Morris Canal Across New Jersey | Dover | |
| More History from the Mid-Atlantic | The Lehigh Valley Railroad established the Bethlehem Iron Company in 1860 along the Lehigh River in South Bethlehem. The Bethlehem Iron Company manufactured the largest steel axle to date to support the first Ferris wheel at the 1893 World's Fair. | More than fifty-one million guests visited the fair before it closed forever in 1965. The 1964-1965 New York World's Fair captures the history of this event through vintage photographs, published here for the first time. | mages of America: Building Washington National Cathedral divides the 20th century into decades to detail what must be the first published beginning-to-completion photographic record of the construction of a Gothic cathedral. | Prince George's County, one of Maryland's most populous counties, has a rich and vibrant history. | The Morris Canal, once an important soldier in the American Industrial Revolution, has been gone for most of the 20th century, but its memory lives on in the many photographs, postcards, and other memorabilia that its unique presence inspired. | The memorable photographs and detailed captions in Images of America: Dover offer a fascinating look at the nation's first state capital, including its residents, events, farms, and local architecture. |
