Author Archives: Carolyn Ristau

Best Bridge – Bridge Madness 2024

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The East Liberty Station Pedestrian Bridge wins the 2024 Bridge Madness tournament with 56% of the votes.

Thank you for participating in the 2024 Bridge Madness Tournament. There were several tight contests in this year’s tournament. The tournament featured 16 pedestrian bridges in Pittsburgh. Half passed over railroads and half passed over roads.

From east to west, the bridges that pass over railroads were:

  • the North Lang Avenue Pedestrian Bridge
  • the East Liberty Station Pedestrian Bridge
  • the Spahr Street Pedestrian Bridge
  • the South Graham Street Pedestrian Bridge
  • the Melanchton Street Pedestrian Bridge
  • an abandoned pedestrian bridge in Hazelwood
  • the South 15th Street Pedestrian Bridge
  • the South 10th Street Pedestrian Bridge

From east to west, the bridges that pass over roads were:

  • the Eliza Furnace Trail Bridges over Swinburne Street
  • the Eliza Furnace Trail Bridge over Bates Street
  • the Bloomfield Pedestrian Bridge
  • the Duquesne University Pedestrian Bridge
  • the Crosstown Blvd Pedestrian Bridge
  • the Charles J Lieberth Pedestrian Bridge
  • the Gerst Way Pedestrian Bridge
  • the Duquesne Incline Pedestrian Bridge

They matched up as follows:

If you’re interested in exploring these bridges yourself, they are located:

Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapse

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One of my readers alerted me to last night’s collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. While I’ve never walked that bridge, since the collapse of Pittsburgh’s Fern Hollow Bridge, which I have walked, the scope of my blog has expanded to highlight the fragile nature of the infrastructure we rely on daily in the United States (and across the pond). According to the reports coming in and the video of the accident, a loaded cargo liner crashed into a pier of the Francis Scott Key Bridge causing the structure to collapse. The Baltimore Sun (March 26, 2024) and Washington Post (March 26, 2024) articles are my primary sources for learning of the accident.

Unlike Pittsburgh’s disaster which was due to a deteriorated portion of the bridge finally giving way after years of deferred maintenance, no blame has yet been placed on any structural unsoundness of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

The ship that ran into it is another story. Apparently, it recently was flagged as having questionable issues in its navigation system. The current understanding is that the ship lost power and control of steering, issued a mayday alert, and crashed into the bridge pier. In the early analysis of what happened, there are questions as to why various things were not handled differently to have prevented the collision. For example:

  • Why were there not more structures in the water to deflect any ships away from the bridge pier?
  • Why didn’t the tugboats continue with the ship until it cleared not just the harbor, but the bridge as well?
  • Why wasn’t the bridge built with redundancies so that even if one of the piers were knocked out, the bridge could still stand?

Much like deferred maintenance (of bridges and ships), I suspect that money is at the root of the reason why not for items one and three above. It may also be a factor in why the tugboats don’t travel farther down the river with the ships.

The City of Baltimore and State of Maryland have declared a state of emergency. Pledges are being made to rebuild the bridge quickly, including President Biden promising the money to rebuild. It may be interesting to compare the rebuilding of the Francis Scott Key Bridge against Pittsburgh’s Fern Hollow Bridge. While of significantly different scales, both bridges are considered major transportation arteries that the local region cannot afford to be without any longer than absolutely necessary. Will the Francis Scott Key Bridge rebuild include similar time saving measures of purely utilitarian design and of concurrent design/build phases?

Bridge Madness 2024 – Championship

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In the 2024 Bridge Madness Tournament, 16 pedestrian bridges go pier-to-pier in a reader’s choice tournament to pick the best one. This year’s tournament features pedestrian bridges within Pittsburgh that cross over roads or railroads. Below is the Championship contest. Vote for your favorite bridge by noon on Wednesday, March 27, and then return on March 29th to see the winner.

The bridges are divided into two conferences: Pedestrian Bridges over Railroads and Pedestrian Bridges over Roads.

Championship Bridges

East Liberty Station Pedestrian Bridge
Duquesne University Pedestrian Bridge

Bridge Madness 2024 Map

Bridge Madness 2024 – Final Four

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In the 2024 Bridge Madness Tournament, 16 pedestrian bridges go pier-to-pier in a reader’s choice tournament to pick the best one. This year’s tournament features pedestrian bridges within Pittsburgh that cross over roads or railroads. Below are the brackets for the Final Four. Remember to vote for one bridge in each bracket by noon on Wednesday, March 20, and then return on March 22nd to vote for the Champion.

The bridges are divided into two conferences: Pedestrian Bridges over Railroads and Pedestrian Bridges over Roads.

Pedestrian Bridges over Railroads

East Liberty Station Pedestrian Bridge
Spahr Street Pedestrian Bridge

Pedestrian Bridges over Roads

Eliza Furnace Trail over Swinburne Street
Duquesne University Pedestrian Bridge

Bridge Madness 2024 Map

Bridge Troubles Across the Pond

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Pittsburgh’s Charles Anderson Bridge closed to vehicles indefinitely pending restoration
Pittsburgh’s Swindell Bridge closed to vehicles indefinitely pending restoration

Pittsburgh isn’t alone in being home to bridges on the verge of collapsing. This year marks the 200th anniversary of London’s Hammersmith Bridge, which has been closed to vehicular traffic for five years after cracks threatening the stability of the bridge were discovered. The bridge was temporarily closed to pedestrians and cyclists crossing over and river traffic crossing under, but those restrictions have been lifted. Except cyclists are required to dismount and walk across. (Transport for London: Hammersmith Bridge) Work is slowly being done on the bridge, but there is no estimate for when it will be fully functional again. Part of the delay appears due to the decentralization of bridge ownership in London that puts the burden of costly bridge maintenance and repairs on local councils that don’t have sufficient funds (The Standard, July 5, 2023). Much as I enjoy walking across bridges, I would have second thoughts about walking one where the vibrations caused by a cyclist might increase the damage to the bridge.

Bridge Madness 2024 – Elite Eight

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In the 2024 Bridge Madness Tournament, 16 pedestrian bridges go pier-to-pier in a reader’s choice tournament to pick the best one. This year’s tournament features pedestrian bridges within Pittsburgh that cross over roads or railroads. Below are the brackets for the Elite Eight. Remember to vote for one bridge in each bracket by noon on Wednesday, March 13, and then return on March 15th to vote for the Final Four.

The bridges are divided into two conferences: Pedestrian Bridges over Railroads and Pedestrian Bridges over Roads.

Pedestrian Bridges over Railroads

S. 10th Street Pedestrian Bridge
East Liberty Station Pedestrian Bridge
Spahr Street Pedestrian Bridge
S. Graham Street Pedestrian Bridge

Pedestrian Bridges over Roads

Eliza Furnace Trail over Swinburne Street
Eliza Furnace Trail over Bates Street
Bloomfield Pedestrian Bridge
Duquesne University Pedestrian Bridge

Bridge Madness 2024 Map

Bridge Madness 2024 – Sweet Sixteen

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In the 2024 Bridge Madness Tournament, 16 pedestrian bridges go pier-to-pier in a reader’s choice tournament to pick the best one. This year’s tournament features pedestrian bridges within Pittsburgh that cross over roads or railroads. Below are the brackets for the Sweet Sixteen. Remember to vote for one bridge in each bracket by noon on Wednesday, March 6, and then return on March 8th to vote for the Elite Eight.

The bridges are divided into two conferences: Pedestrian Bridges over Railroads and Pedestrian Bridges over Roads.

Pedestrian Bridges over Railroads

N. Lang Street Pedestrian Bridge
S. 10th Street Pedestrian Bridge
East Liberty Station Pedestrian Bridge
S. 15th Street Pedestrian Bridge
Spahr Street Pedestrian Bridge
S. 15th Street Pedestrian Bridge
S. Graham Street Pedestrian Bridge
Melanchton Street Pedestrian Bridge

Pedestrian Bridges over Roads

Duquesne Incline Pedestrian Bridge
Eliza Furnace Trail over Swinburne Street
Gerst Way Pedestrian Bridge
Eliza Furnace Trail over Bates Street
Charles J. Lieberth Pedestrian Bridge
Bloomfield Pedestrian Bridge
Crosstown Blvd Pedestrian Bridge
Duquesne University Pedestrian Bridge

Bridge Madness 2024 Map

Bridge Madness 2024 – Introduction

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Rules

In the 2024 Bridge Madness Tournament, 16 pedestrian bridges go pier-to-pier in a reader’s choice tournament to pick the best one. This year’s tournament features pedestrian bridges within Pittsburgh that cross over roads or railroads. Beginning March 1, you will be able to vote for your favorite bridge in each bracket. The champion bridge will be announced on March 29. Don’t forget to come back each week to vote your favorite bridge to #1!

Each round of voting will go live at 8 AM on the scheduled Friday and close at noon the following Wednesday. The schedule is:

  • March 1 – Sweet Sixteen
  • March 8 – Elite Eight
  • March 15 – Final Four
  • March 22 – Championship
  • March 29 – Winner announced

The bridges are divided into two conferences: Pedestrian Bridges over Railroads and Pedestrian Bridges over Roads.

Pedestrian Bridges over Railroads

From east to west, the bridges that pass over railroads are:

  • the North Lang Avenue Pedestrian Bridge
  • the East Liberty Station Pedestrian Bridge
  • the Spahr Street Pedestrian Bridge
  • the South Graham Street Pedestrian Bridge
  • the Melanchton Street Pedestrian Bridge
  • an abandoned pedestrian bridge in Hazelwood
  • the South 15th Street Pedestrian Bridge
  • the South 10th Street Pedestrian Bridge

Pedestrian Bridges over Roads

From east to west, the bridges that pass over roads are:

  • the Eliza Furnace Trail Bridges over Swinburne Street
  • the Eliza Furnace Trail Bridge over Bates Street
  • the Bloomfield Pedestrian Bridge
  • the Duquesne University Pedestrian Bridge
  • the Crosstown Blvd Pedestrian Bridge
  • the Charles J Lieberth Pedestrian Bridge
  • the Gerst Way Pedestrian Bridge
  • the Duquesne Incline Pedestrian Bridge

Bridge Madness 2024 Map

Leap Frog 1

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LeapFrog! was a fundraiser in Erie, PA, in 2004. I found the frog above on a trip to Erie in 2012. Like some of Pittsburgh’s dinosaurs, I cannot match it to one of the original frogs in the official book.

In 2012, I experienced a narrow band of Erie along State Street from downtown to the waterfront. While walking around in this area looking for churches, I found some frogs. At the time, I did not make a note of the locations where I found them.

In 2023, I found that Ami H. maintains a list and map of the locations of the LeapFrog! frogs. I believe the frog that I found in 2012 is the one tagged on Ami’s map at the Children’s Museum. It has been repainted and become “Experience Frog.” (I still can’t find a match for it in the official LeapFrog! book.)