Update On Carrie Furnace Hot Metal Bridge.

Submitted by Cooch98 t3_127nu65 in pittsburgh

I work for the county and we just had a large meeting yesterday about the Hot Metal Bridge. Currently the county and consulting parties are discussing design ideas on just about every detail possible. The designs should be finalized by the end of the year and construction to make it a pedestrian, cycling bridge should start next spring, and tenitivley should open to the public by summer of 2025. However, were still gonna need to get a lot more funding for this project which could delay the project, so I'd aim for a 2026 summer opening. Ask any questions you'd like and I'll try to answer the best I can.

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lvngstndm t1_jeey2e6 wrote

I'm a civil design professional with experience in pedestrian infrastructure and public infrastructure grant funding - this bridge was a childhood hotspot of mine and I'm very interested in this project.

OP - Do you know What organizations/companies are specifically tasked with this project? I know URA owns the site, do you have any info on state/local organizations who will be involved?

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FuzzPunkMutt t1_jeey4nq wrote

I rode across the Hot Metal Bridge a few days ago; is this a new bridge near the furnace or are they re-building the current bridge?

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OcelotWolf t1_jeezdi0 wrote

Can y’all come up with a new name for it next?

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fugly16 t1_jef0l6p wrote

If I learned anything from my stint working for the County, is if you're expecting an opening by summer 2025 it'll be more like summer of 2028.

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PGHxplant t1_jef3z8j wrote

What is the north end going to connect to? The Duck Hollow trail ends more than a mile away and really isn't useful for much anyway. Besides that, it would be extremely helpful to have a safe and convenient way from the GAP to Swissvale Station. Biking across the Rankin Bridge and getting to the East Busway is a nightmare.

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SteamDome t1_jef7ggf wrote

Are you guys going to scrap the rail that’s on the bridge or Preserve it? I’m a member of Youngstown Steel Heritage & the J&L narrow gauge railroad and our Founder Rick Rowlands is a contractor and Carrie Furnace so we’d be interested in the rail if it’s not going to be used.

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beefbarley t1_jef82p2 wrote

Replying to Eubadom (#2,532,975)

Is it the one right next to the Glenwood bridge? Like at Sandcastle?

Edit: it's not. It's next to the Rankin Bridge on the other end of the Waterfront

Edit 2: it's also near (I kid you not) Union Railroad Hot Metal Bridge - Port Perry

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NoRice5703 t1_jefepmy wrote

Is this the end of Glory Daze?😵‍💫

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leadfoot9 t1_jefexwj wrote

Replying to tinacat933 (#2,537,033)

I think it's because the moniker is just descriptive:
It was a bridge used to cart hot, liquid metal across the river from one part of a steel plant to another.

So, it may have been a mistake to start referring to "The" Hot Metal Bridge.

Also, I recently learned that, on the South Side, the Hot Metal bridge is properly the bike/pedestrian bridge. The car bridge is the Monongahela Railroad Bridge or something like that.

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hsavvy t1_jefhonu wrote

This would have made my college walk of shames from Southside even better

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Cooch98 OP t1_jefn7w4 wrote

Replying to lvngstndm (#2,532,830)

RAAC/ACED Owns the bridge and Carrie Furnace site. Mackin Engineering is the company that will be doing the designs and construction. As for the consulting parties that includes: SHPO, RIDC, Rivers of Steel, friends of the riverfront, and a few more I can’t remember off the top of my head. So far we have $6 million in funding but it’s estimated it’s gonna take about $10 million.

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Cooch98 OP t1_jefp1re wrote

Replying to SteamDome (#2,535,956)

As for now that’s still up in the air. Mackin and the consulting parties like the idea of keeping the tracks at the begging of the bridge where they split. But that will be challenging as they have to pour concrete to be level will the rails which is smooth and rounded off and not squared off. Also they will have to add some sort of clear coat on the rail to cyclist don’t slide and fall when they are wet. They might get rid of the ones on the bridge, but who knows that’s still months away and many more meeting and discussions to get through.

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Aggravating_Foot_528 t1_jefp2tk wrote

Replying to tinacat933 (#2,540,360)

these bridges were just factory bridges. So there was no reason to name it anything else. Cars carrying molten material just went back and forth.

I guess it would be up to the people rehabbing the current unused hot metal bridge to change it.

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PGHxplant t1_jefpd1o wrote

Replying to Cooch98 (#2,541,007)

Huh. I'll try hard then to keep the sarcasm in check and recognize this is likely way beyond your influence. But frankly--and especially if funding is still in question--the sponsors' answer to "What does it do and what problems does it solve?" probably needs to be better than "Cross the Mon" followed by a shrug.

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CalamityCactus t1_jefr2wm wrote

Replying to Watchyousuffer (#2,535,161)

I dream of a trail that connects Duck Hollow, the GAP, and the Hazelwood trail. That would create an awesome linkage especially if Swissvale made it easier to get from Les Getz to the busway. That would help that whole area.

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Cooch98 OP t1_jefv4m7 wrote

Replying to fugly16 (#2,533,658)

That’s very likely true, the only hope is though is that one of our big federal grants expires end of next year so we have to spend it to get reimbursed.

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deadeyedopie t1_jefvn27 wrote

They built the Empire State Building in less time.

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dfiler t1_jefxwrp wrote

Replying to Kyle_From_Pitt (#2,539,310)

There is an RIDC development in Rankin. RAAC owns the bridge and much of the other land. Rivers of steels owns Carrie Furnace in swissvale (or at least they did).

Normally, property lines and ownership can be seen on the county GIS website:
https://openac-alcogis.opendata.arcgis.com/apps/b4b1dbb65b4943538425bb5ae0f8f62b/explore

But for some reason, many of the nearby parcels are missing data right now. Perhaps they changed hands recently.

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Cooch98 OP t1_jefy2xb wrote

Replying to PGHxplant (#2,541,474)

It’s likely that’s being done by the individual boroughs for them to communicate to each one and how they want which trials to connect. I specifically just help with the bridge.

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dfiler t1_jefyg80 wrote

Replying to Cooch98 (#2,541,007)

There is a protected bike lane along carrie furnace blvd that takes you up to the rankin bridge.

There is also public money for designing the link eastward to the Westmorland Heritage Trail.

If the underpass is opened under the railraod, there is a gravel road that connects to Duck hollow and Bradock. Also, opening that underpass leads to a second underpass and a set of steps under the other set of tracks. This leads to an old parking lot for steelworkers. From there you can take amazing singletrack trail all the way back to frick park without ever crossing a road. Or you can go up a steep paved driveway on the border of swissvale and rankin. The very top crosses private land briefly but i'm guessing there's an easement that would allow it to be opened back up.

The gravel road and singletrack is already extremely popular with cyclists. Connecting this to the GAP will open up so many more opportunities for people in the area.

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Cooch98 OP t1_jefzha4 wrote

Replying to PGHxplant (#2,541,474)

Also for your funding question. The sponsor is just government money. No company is funding this project. I believe 6 million is coming from federal ARPA grants (American Rescue Plan Act) for Covid relief. Basically grants were applied to for this project in early Covid days and it was awarded due to the needed of safe outdoor distressed economically impacted areas and through a lot of paper work, we got the grant. The consulting parties I talked about are just that, consulting. They voice their opinions and talk about how they want the bridge to look, their designs, and alike and what to be kept and not kept. But ultimately my bosses boss makes the final say on just about everything.

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Cooch98 OP t1_jeg0p8c wrote

Replying to dfiler (#2,544,350)

I agree that would be awesome if that all connects as I’m getting into biking. But that’s going to be up to the boroughs if they want to connect a bike trail to the GAP. I just work on the bridge so i basically know nothing what’s happening trail connecting wise. But since we’re investing millions into this bridge I’m sure there’s a plan in place for trial connections that I just don’t know about yet.

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El_Gato_Gigante t1_jeg1w8g wrote

>the Hot Metal Bridge

The first step, in my opinion, is to avoid confusion and stop calling it this. This will help make the idea more accessible to the public, if that makes sense. My first thought was why the hell the county is messing with a bridge/pedestrian walkway that was fixed up not that long ago.

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Cooch98 OP t1_jeg2bg1 wrote

Replying to deadeyedopie (#2,543,453)

True but that was before the fair labor standard Act. So you could just pay people a quarter an hour and no overtime or benefits or really anything. Plus that was financed from private companies. Which makes it a lot easier when you have the power of a blank check and tell construction companies to build the tallest building in NYC as fast as you can.

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Cooch98 OP t1_jeg4ly3 wrote

Replying to mckills (#2,545,690)

I agree America sucks compared to many others with infrastructure. Just on my lunch break earlier my friend that lives in Columbus and I were imaging if there was a high speed train from Pittsburgh to Columbus (where he lives) we would see each other so much more often instead we have to make the 3 drive every few months.

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PGHxplant t1_jego791 wrote

Replying to Cooch98 (#2,544,669)

Sorry, based on the downvotes I was clearly misconstrued and it's my own fault. I love this project, I'm proud that my taxes are being spent on it, and I can't wait to use it. It just seems to lack the overall vision compared to the Brilliant Branch Bridge project, whose proponents make a clear case about why it should be reconstructed and what they envision will be improved by doing it.

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