The Glenwood Bridge, which carries traffic from the Monongahela Valley into Pittsburgh via Hazelwood, will be reduced to one lane in each direction Monday night until October.
Contractor Mosites Construction Co. will close two of the four lanes on the bridge beginning at 7 p.m. Monday. Mosites has a $4.4 million contract with Allegheny County for preservation work on the bridge.
The bridge on Route 885, which inspectors rate in fair condition, crosses the Monongahela River to join Hazelwood at Second Avenue with Hays and Route 837 on Pittsburgh’s South Side. It carries an estimated 19,030 vehicles daily.
The project will include repairs to structural steel, the deck, sidewalk, drainage and approach pavement; replacement of expansion dams; and painting, cleaning and sealing concrete. Although the exact date hasn’t been decided yet, the ramp from the bridge to Route 837 will be closed for about a month during the project.
The current bridge opened in 1966 as the first all-welded steel truss bridge in Pennsylvania and had its last major work in 2000. According to pghbridges.com, that structure replaced the original wooden-deck bridge built in 1894 for Pittsburgh Railways, and a story in The Pittsburgh Press said it was the first bridge in this area to carry streetcars across the river.
The original structure charged tolls, and toll collectors took fees from individuals who used the span and counted heads on streetcars to bill Pittsburgh Railways. Tolls later were eliminated, and after years of lobbying from Hazelwood residents, the new bridge was constructed.
Ed covers transportation at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at eblazina@unionprogress.com.