Hot Metal Bridge

This article is about the Pittsburgh bridge. For the rail bridge between Rankin and Whitaker, see Carrie Furnace Hot Metal Bridge.

Hot Metal Bridge
Roadway south portal from the bike trail.
Coordinates	40.428268°N 79.960776°W / 40.428268; -79.960776
Carries	South 29th Street Mon Con: motor vehicles, 2 lanes Hot Metal: converted for pedestrian and bicycles
Crosses	Monongahela River
Locale	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Official name	Monongahela Connecting Railroad Bridge and Hot Metal Bridge
Other name(s)	MC RR Bridge, Mon Con Bridge, pghe588-14
Characteristics
Design	Truss bridge
Total length	1,174 feet (358 m)
Longest span	321 feet (98 m)
Clearance below	48.4 feet (14.8 m)
History
Designer	William Glyde Wilkins?
Opened	1887
Pittsburgh Landmark – PHLF
Designated	2009
Location

The Hot Metal Bridge is a truss bridge in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that crosses the Monongahela River. The bridge consists of two parallel spans on a single set of piers: the former Monongahela Connecting Railroad Bridge, built in 1887, on the upstream side and the former Hot Metal Bridge, built in 1900, on the downstream side. The Monongahela Connecting Railroad Bridge carried conventional railroad traffic, while the Hot Metal Bridge connected parts of the J&L Steel mill, carrying crucibles of molten iron from the blast furnaces in ladle transfer cars to the open hearth furnaces on the opposite bank to be converted to steel. During World War II 15% of America's steel making capacity crossed over the Hot Metal Bridge, up to 180 tons per hour. The upstream span was converted to road use after a $14.6 million restoration, and opened by Mayor Tom Murphy with a ceremony honoring former steel workers on June 23, 2000. The bridge connects 2nd Avenue at the Pittsburgh Technology Center in South Oakland with Hot Metal Street (South 29th Street) in the South Side. The downstream span reopened for pedestrian and bicycle use in late 2007 after two years of work. The Great Allegheny Passage hiker/biker trail passes over this bridge as it approaches Pittsburgh's Golden Triangle area.

2006 view, before the pedestrian and bicycle bridge opened

2016 view, after pedestrian and bicycle bridge opened

The Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation was responsible for managing the decorative lighting project for the bridge, which was lit with energy-efficient light-emitting diode (LED) and optical fiber technology on June 12, 2008.

The Hot Metal Bridge was inducted into the North America Railway Hall of Fame in 2016.

Popular culture

The Hot Metal Bridge is the namesake of the defunct Hot Metal Grille at the nearby SouthSide Works shopping center.

The bridge was in several scenes of the 2011 film Warrior starring Jennifer Morrison and Nick Nolte.

See also

• List of bridges documented by the Historic American Engineering Record in Pennsylvania
• List of crossings of the Monongahela River
• Pittsburgh bridges
• Great Allegheny Passage
• Pig iron

External links

• Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. PA-277-B, "Monongahela Connecting Railroad Company, Main Bridge, Spanning Monongahela River at mile post 3.1, Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, PA", 12 photos, 2 data pages, 2 photo caption pages
• HAER No. PA-277-C, "Monongahela Connecting Railroad Company, Hot Metal Bridge, Spanning Monongahela River at mile post 3.1, Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, PA", 13 photos, 4 data pages, 2 photo caption pages
• Hot Metal Bridge at pghbridges.com
• Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Official reopening of the bridge after the conversion
• Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Article on conversion of bridge to pedestrian and bicycle use
• Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - High bids threaten the conversion project
• Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Groundbreaking on the new project