Almost exactly one year after the Fern Hollow Bridge’s stunning collapse, yet another of Pittsburgh’s crumbling overpasses had to be shut down to vehicle traffic on Wednesday as city officials scrambled to avert the catastrophic failure of a key piece of public infrastructure.
The Charles Anderson Memorial Bridge, an 85-year-old span that carries the heavily traveled Boulevard of the Allies over a ravine in Oakland, needs immediate repairs before it can safely carry vehicles again, Mayor Ed Gainey said in a statement Wednesday afternoon.
Repairs will take at least four months, according to the city’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure, forcing the estimated 21,200 cars, trucks and buses that use the bridge every day to find another way across or around Panther Hollow, the steep valley crossed by the bridge. The bridge remains open to pedestrians and cyclists, as does the Junction Hollow Trail below.
