Dooker’s Hollow Bridge closes for now

80- year- old span between North Braddock, East Pittsburgh to be replaced with new structure

The Dooker’s Hollow Bridge between East Pittsburgh and North Braddock, named for the swimming stream that used to pass under it, closes Monday through December 2021 so it can be replaced.

Allegheny County has awarded Allison Park Contractors Inc. a $ 9.95 million contract to replace the 80- year- old structure that runs parallel to the Edgar Thomson steel plant. The county will operate a shuttle bus on weekdays to help pedestrians who will not be able to use the bridge during replacement.

Michael Burdelsky, the county’s assistant deputy director of public works, said the existing bridge is a 635- foot arched cantilever truss bridge with three spans and has a 31- ton weight limit, but its design doesn’t meet current standards. It will be replaced with a 660- foot steel girder bridge with five spans.

“It will be a good structure to get replaced,” Mr. Burdelsky said. “It’s about 80 years old, about the end of its useful life.”

The new bridge will be longer to accommodate the new design and allow girders to be a uniform length, he said. The county acquired a small amount of property on the East Pittsburgh side of the bridge that will be regraded so the bridge can be about 25 feet longer.

“All of the rights of way acquisitions have already happened,” Mr. Burdelsky said. “It just lets us sit the end of the bridge in a better position. No one is going to have to move or lose their house because of this.”

The contractor is expected to spend the next few months removing street lights and parapets before the actual demolition of the bridge. Mr. Burdelsky said the county is still talking with the contractor about demolition, but he doesn’t think the structure will be imploded.

Once demolition begins, O’Connell Boulevard, which passes through the hollow, will be closed for about two months where it passes under the bridge. That area also may be closed intermittently during construction of the new bridge.

During the closure, the recommended detour sends traffic on Jones and Baldridge avenues, Sixth Street, Yost Boulevard and Ardmore Boulevard ( Route 30). For pedestrians, Monongahela there will be a free shuttle bus that follows the detour route and picks up passengers at least River once every half- hour at Bell and Jones avenues in North Braddock and Center Street and Ardmore Boulevard in East Pittsburgh.

North Braddock manager Doug Marguriet said the borough is pleased the the county is replacing the bridge, which carries 2,245 vehicles a day.

“It’s going to be an inconvenience, no doubt about it,” he said. “But they are going above and beyond the call of duty to help people out.”

As for that name?

“Dooker” is a Scottish word for swimsuit. A tributary of Turtle Creek that used to pass through the hollow under the bridge was a popular swimming spot in the late 1800s and early 1900s, giving the area its name.