South Highland Avenue Bridge | Rob Pfaffmann

South Highland Avenue Bridge—Architectural Enhancements

Construction Area:    7,640 sf

Project Cost:    $2.1 M

Project Completed:    October 2013

Client:    Federal Highway Administration, PA Department of Transportation, City of Pittsburgh

Background

The South Highland Avenue Bridge connects the neighborhoods of Shadyside and East Liberty in Pittsburgh’s East End. It carries traffic and pedestrians over Ellsworth Avenue, the Martin Luther King, Jr. East Busway and railroad tracks currently owned by the Norfolk Southern Railroad—historically, part of the Main Line of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR). The new superstructure replaces a severely deteriorated two-span, steel, thru-girder bridge constructed in 1925 and build atop ashlar piers and abutments from 1876 (which were able to be repurposed to support the new superstructure). 

In 1993, the bridge was determined to be eligible for the National Register of Historic Places as a contributing component of the Pennsylvania Railroad Main Line. Goals for the replacement project included: improve safety; address structural deficiencies; improve vertical clearance; and enhance community connectivity and placemaking.

Elevate Infrastructure

When planning for the replacement bridge began in 2010, the design team challenged conventional bridge building procedures and expectations by viewing infrastructure as a civic design opportunity. Through a series of consensus-building and planning strategies, a refreshing collaboration ensued with the clients and bridge engineers to ensure that the project would not produce what one participant lamented as “Just another dumb bridge.”

Re-Invent the Norm

The challenge then became one of creatively employing the common elements (and standard budgets) typically found in bridge overpass construction. Chain link fence, cast concrete and lamp posts were reinterpreted in refreshing ways to create visual interest—and even an element of surprise—from a standard kit of parts.

 Enhancing Civic Space

The bridge was designed to be more than a way to get from point A to point B, but rather as a meaningful civic space that can be occupied by visitors crossing from both directions. Unlike its predecessor, the new bridge feels expansive and invites pedestrians to linger and explore. The cadence created by the LED light fixtures atop the fence posts suggests the movement of grasses swaying in the breeze; the chance discovery of a glazed “gap” in the chain link fence permits views down the tracks to the horizon; the cantilevered benches in the barrier wall encourage a moment to pause and watch passersby.

 Innovative Preservation

The design team even saw opportunity in the mitigation required under historic preservation policies. While securing a plaque to the jersey barrier might have sufficed, a more meaningful interpretive strategy was proposed instead. On each side of the bridge, above the center line of the train tracks, is a stainless steel panel containing historic photographs, maps and text. One looks east to the origins of the PRR and what was once the East Liberty Station and describes the importance of the Main Line to the nation’s industrial development. The other looks west toward Downtown Pittsburgh and some of the long gone PRR commuter stops and explains the impact of the bridge on neighborhood development. 

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