Pittsburgh’s Fern Hollow Bridge reopened Friday after being closed for the past month while crews restored four lanes of traffic on the structure between Squirrel Hill and Point Breeze.
Swank Construction also placed a polymer coating on the concrete surface to extend the life of the new bridge, which opened in December with two lanes of traffic. The previous bridge had collapsed into Frick Park in January 2022, and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation used an emergency federal grant of $25.3 million to replace it.
The work also included installing jersey barriers to protect users on the new two-way cycle track and adding a pedestrian walking space on north Beechwood Boulevard that connects to the end of the existing Beechwood sidewalk.
Reopening the bridge on Forbes Avenue returns the connection between two busy city neighborhoods.
The National Transportation Safety Board continues to investigate the cause of the collapse, which dumped six vehicles into the park and injured 10. The bridge had been rated in poor condition for more than 10 years, and the board already has recommended that owners of similar bridges that use a special kind of steel make sure that they have proper drainage to prevent deterioration.
Ed covers transportation at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at eblazina@unionprogress.com.