Carrick Avenue Wooden Footbridge
Contents
- 1 The original Carrick Avenue Wooden Footbridge was built approximately 1905. The following and 1953. The bridge may also have been built to bring students to the new Concord Elementary School built on Carrick Avenue in 1905.
- 2 It is interesting that the bridge does not show on the official 1905 and the original revised 1912 map of the Carrick Borough.
- 3 Nancy Long writes:
- 4 Nancy says "I walked over the bridge on my way to both the old and the new Concord Schools, starting in 1936, and then when I walked to Carrick High School until I graduated in 1947. The bridge was still there when I moved away from Carrick in about 1954."
- 5 This is from the G. M. Hopkins Company Maps 1872-1940.
- 6 Mr. Bruce Cridlebaugh of the web site www.pghbridges.com provided this information on this bridge.
- 7 This aerial image is from Pennpilot images taken in 1937 to 1942.
- 8 The following description of the the bridge was supplied from Mr. Mark Stem of the City of Pittsburgh. The information begins in 1927, the year Carrick Borough was annexed into the City of Pittsburgh. The bridge appears on maps as early as 1905.
The original Carrick Avenue Wooden Footbridge was built approximately 1905. The following and 1953. The bridge may also have been built to bring students to the new Concord Elementary School built on Carrick Avenue in 1905.
It is interesting that the bridge does not show on the official 1905 and the original revised 1912 map of the Carrick Borough.
Nancy Long writes:
The footbridge is shown on this 1916 map at Historic Pittsburgh Map
It is also shown on this 1905 map at Historic Pittsburgh Map
Nancy says "I walked over the bridge on my way to both the old and the new Concord Schools, starting in 1936, and then when I walked to Carrick High School until I graduated in 1947. The bridge was still there when I moved away from Carrick in about 1954."
This is from the G. M. Hopkins Company Maps 1872-1940.
Mr. Bruce Cridlebaugh of the web site www.pghbridges.com provided this information on this bridge.
This aerial image is from Pennpilot images taken in 1937 to 1942.
Mr. Cridlebaugh further writes:
"Hopkins maps often show streets in locations that were never opened — paper streets, steps. It’s peculiar that the name Eiler Ave is shown on either side of Becks Run, when the eastern side has been given so many names in the past. And that those streets surrounding have been renamed so often. The street renaming most often happened in Pittsburgh when the city would annex an area. Duplicate street names would be changed, usually to something that sounded similar or started with the same letter. Like Ravine St to Raven St.
I suspect the Carrick Land Company may have had something to do with the bridge you are asking about. It makes sense for them to plat the land and connect the hilltops. And maybe in anticipation of a street bridge, they built the footbridge — with the street bridge never being built. And the ravine required the configuration of streets as built.
A retaining wall on Becks Run Rd makes me curious about a possible connection between the two sections of Eiler Ave , but I don’t see any real evidence. And someone would need to climb the hillsides there. The tree patterns on the Penn Pilot photos do not imply any connection, though houses were never built in the easement.
Not directly related, but indicating how the passage of time can obscure things: I recall the Georgia Ave bridge that once crossed above Bausman St near McKinley Park . It was an enormous concrete arch. If you go there today, you’d be hard-pressed to find any evidence that it ever existed."
The following description of the the bridge was supplied from Mr. Mark Stem of the City of Pittsburgh. The information begins in 1927, the year Carrick Borough was annexed into the City of Pittsburgh. The bridge appears on maps as early as 1905.
Location: On the line of Carrick Avenue from Eiler Avenue to Radiant Street and crossing over Ravine Street.
Date erected: 1927
Length: 246 feet
Type: Timber beam viaduct footbridge
Erected for: City of Pittsburgh by the City of Pittsburgh
Cost: Labor $5,532.90
Load limit: Pedestrian traffic only
History: The original Carrick Avenue footbridge was taken over by the City when Carrick Borough became part of the City in 1927. On March 8, 1927, the same year, an ordinance was passed setting up $8,000.0 for repairs to same. The entire substructure was replaced by City forces May 1927.
Bridge closed: August 1953
Bridge removed: September 1953 to October 30, 1953
