Rachel Carson Bridge to close Monday

Refurbishment project set to be finished in 2020

Allegheny County will use lessons learned refurbishing the Andy Warhol Bridge when it moves Monday to the Rachel Carson Bridge, the second of the Three Sister spans between Downtown Pittsburgh and the North Side to get an overhaul.

The Rachel Carson Bridge will be closed to vehicular and pedestrian traffic beginning at 6 a.m. Monday as contractors Brayman Construction and Advantage Steel and Construction begin about 19 months of work. The $23.3 million project includes a new concrete deck, structural steel repairs, painting, new bridge and architectural lighting, replacement of expansion dams and drainage systems, and new sidewalks.

One major difference from the Warhol project, completed in November 2017, is replacing the sidewalks, said Michael Dillon, the county’s assistant director of public works. As a result, pedestrians can’t use the bridge during construction.

Mr. Dillon said the county learned from the Warhol project that it should start earlier to coordinate the relocation of utilities and to design better shields to protect boaters from debris and paint falling from the bridge.

The initial design for the Warhol had to be changed so that the shields were only about 3 feet below the bridge deck rather than 5 feet, which wasn’t enough clearance for boats in the Gateway Clipper fleet to pass beneath.

As part of the project, Mr. Dillon said, crews will install empty conduit in case the city finds a sponsor for permanent decorative lighting on the

bridge, which it also did for the Warhol. As part of the city’s bicentennial two years ago, the city installed a temporary light display on the Warhol that featured LED lights, something it would like to make permanent on all three bridges if it can find sponsors.

When the Carson project is finished in September 2020, the bridge will have a new lane configuration. Rather than two lanes in each direction, there will be one lane each way with wider shoulders in the middle of the bridge and two exit lanes at each end so that drivers have a turning lane.

The Port Authority is rerouting four buses as a result of the bridge work, spokesman Adam Brandolph said. Instead of using the Carson, the 2 Mount Royal, 4 Troy Hill, 7 Spring Garden and 12 McKnight Road will use the Warhol Bridge.

In late 2021, the county expects the same kind of rehabilitation for the Roberto Clemente Bridge. That project will have its own set of challenges because the bridge provides the primary pedestrian access to PNC Park from Downtown.

“Those discussions are still going on with the Pirates to see what they need,” Mr. Dillon said. “If eventually it is decided they need to have some pedestrian access at certain times, we certainly will look into that.”

The Warhol, Carson and Clemente bridges are two blocks apart and the only trio of identical bridges in the world. They also were the first self-anchored suspension bridges in the U.S.