[PRCo] Re: Bridges and (almost) tunnels of Allegheny County.

[ROGER Jenkins]

On Sept 14th Bob Deitrich wrote of a website that features bridges in
Pittsburgh . HTTP:// www.buildingtechnology/com/bcba/bridges/index.htm
[connot make that clickable with my web tv setup--sorry ]  Anyway
co-incidentely in todays local Riverside Press-Enterprise  of Ca. USA
is an article about the bridges of Pittsburgh by Todd Spangler of AP .
Pictures of the Fort Pitt and Roberto Clemente  bridges . It says  this
town is a  Gephyrophobic's worst nightmare   [ an individual with fear
of crossing a bridge over water ]  The article goes on to say there are
377 bridges in the city proper and  1,945 in Allegheny County. It picks
out the Smithfield St. Bridge as the most aesthetically pleasing span in
the city with its  Gustav Lindenthal's lens-shaped design in the 1880's
with gently curving eye-beams and  steel portals and ornamentation !
McKees Rocks bridge is reminscent of New York's  Hell Gate Railway
bridge with its tapering trussed arch and mishmash of cantilever deck
trusses and crescent arches.  The reason for all the bridges is the
topography of southwestern Pennsylvania . To expand  and navigate over
and around  rivers and streams , mountains and sharp dropping valleys ,
man-made works were called for. Tunnels burrow thru mountains ; trolley
cars cling to rails crawling up steep grades . and bridges and roads
connect the pieces. Bruce Cridlebaugh  maintains a web site on
Pittsburgh's bridges . " We pretty much have something of everything
here . I don't know if theres anywhere else you could say that ".  A
recent suggestion was floated to replace the " Aztec Gold "  paint  on
most of the bridges with a wide array of bright colors such as " Purple
Ice " , "Perfect Peach "  and " Candied Yam ".  Most people rejected
this idea as un-appetizing !!  That  offended their Pittsburgh souls to
have a bridge painted  "Pretty in Pink "   Some newcomers think of
Pittsburgh as a second Venice but natives don't really cotton to that
notion . 
'