ON THIS DAY: May 6, 2009, Davis Ave. Bridge is demolished

During a routine inspection in the spring of 2009, city officials were alarmed to discover that the Davis Avenue Bridge was so unstable that it could collapse at any moment. Residents along Woods Run Avenue below the bridge were hastily evacuated and, less than a month later, on May 6, the bridge was demolished.

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Built in 1889, the Davis Avenue Bridge crossed the flood-prone Woods Run below it to link residential areas to the west with the newly funded Riverview Park. It’s also likely that the leadership of Allegheny City planned the bridge as one of several projects intended to keep the Western University of Pennsylvania (today’s University of Pittsburgh) from relocating to Pittsburgh, before later moving on to Oakland.

Access to the park for residents of the city’s Eleventh Ward was also completely dependent upon the construction of the Davis Avenue Bridge, which was pushed through by influential representatives who lived in the ward.

Allegheny City accepted the lowest bidder, Gustave Kaufman, for the project, which came in at $25,754 on June 20, 1898. Kaufman then subcontracted the work to another company, Fort Pitt Bridge Works. The 396-foot cantilevered bridge, made at a budget price, was unembellished and its functional riveted steel structure was criticized for its modesty.

In the meantime, sewer upgrades also tamed Woods Run, and the street named after it became lined with houses and a moderately important thoroughfare to and from the city.

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What the bridge lacked in architectural grace it made up for with engineering functionality, opening up Riverview Park to the eager residents of Brighton Heights. The refuge of its 259 wooded acres make it Pittsburgh’s fourth-largest park. It features a playground, ball field, pool and park amenities like bike trails, picnic shelters and summertime concerts and movies.

The park is also home to the landmark Allegheny Observatory, which was donated to the Western University of Pennsylvania in 1867, though the current structure is the second on the site, completed in 1912.

A former Presbyterian church, built in 1894, was also moved to the park in the early 20th century. The church structure was slated for demolition in 2005, but was spared, restored and underwent a further $1.2 million renovation in 2008 to become the Chapel Shelter, a favorite of local couples for weddings and receptions.

The bridge also received some rehabilitation and attention over the years. Numerous structural improvements during a 1986 reconstruction were intended to strengthen the bridge, but also encased its original latticework in unsightly steel plates.

Concerns about deferred maintenance and structural weakness led to the Davis Avenue Bridge being closed in 2001 to all vehicles. It remained open for pedestrians, maintaining access to the park, but there was no funding earmarked to repair the bridge and it went another nine years without any improvements.

Councilwoman Darlene Harris was finally able to get the project listed on the Federal Transportation Improvement Project list in 2008. As part of a 2009 inspection to determine the bridge’s eligibility for funding to repair it, even more structural weaknesses were found. Residents on Woods Run Avenue told Channel 11 that pieces of the bridge had been falling onto their rooftops and yards for years.

When the integrity of the bridge’s framework was found to have deteriorated enough to put the span at imminent risk of collapse, the city was left with no other choice but to destroy it. The city’s engineering consultant, Michael Baker, Jr., Inc. recommended the bridge’s immediate closure to all pedestrian traffic and that Woods Run Avenue beneath the bridge also be barricaded, pending demolition. The cost to bring down the bridge was estimated to be $758,000, which included a $200/day stipend to all residents who were to be displaced during demolition and cleanup.

Once residents were evacuated from what Mayor Luke Ravenstahl described as “the fall zone,” explosives were set. At nearby Allegheny Observatory, plans were also made to retract the telescope to protect the lens from damage. With bright explosive flashes, the bridge dropped into ruin on top of Woods Run Avenue.

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Homeowners were dismayed upon their return to find shrapnel from the demolition had broken windows and punched holes in exterior walls, despite assurances from the demolition company that not all the houses in the area needed to have protective tarps installed on them. One couple said a piece of debris punctured two attic walls before embedding itself in the far wall of their house.

While the damage was largely minimal, homeowners told Channel 11 a year later that they were still waiting for payments from the city to cover their repair expenses and insurance deductibles.

The house closest to the bridge was deemed unsafe after the bridge fell next to it. The exterior wall became separated from the main staircase and city contractors brought in to evaluate the structure determined that repairs would likely exceed the value of the home. Negotiations between the homeowner and the city presumably reached a satisfactory settlement; by 2011, the property was a vacant lot.

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The loss of the Davis Avenue Bridge severed Brighton Heights residents from Riverview Park, but also cut off the Brighton Heights business district from Perry Hill and Observatory Hill neighborhoods.

All of the involved communities started lobbying for the immediate replacement of the bridge, but in 2010 the replacement cost to make a new full-service bridge was estimated to be nearly $8 million. City officials emphatically said it was not possible at that time and at that price.

For nearly a decade since, Davis Avenue has been quieter and now the residents closest to the former bridge site have argued against replacing the bridge because of concerns about increased traffic.

Nonetheless, a $200,000 Gaming and Economic Development grant for planning a new pedestrian and bicycle-friendly bridge was approved in 2019. The state grant won’t fully cover the expected $2 million costs of feasibility study, engineering and construction for a new bridge, but it’s seen as a compromise with Davis Avenue residents who don’t want the traffic a more expensive vehicle bridge would bring.

There is some possibility that the original bridge piers could even be reused in a pedestrian bridge, trimming costs.

On April 21, 2021, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Financing Authority approved $500,000 for a pedestrian bridge. It was approved as part of a larger infrastructure grant package from the state’s Multimodal Transportation Fund that totaled $48 million, including $3.4 million for the City of Pittsburgh.

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