[PRCo] RANKIN BRIDGE??????

[Fred Schneider]

Derrick, Edward and anyone else who can answer

The Pittsburgh Railways route cards mention both a West Braddock  
Bridge and a Rankin Bridge.    My initial reaction was to believe  
that one was over the river and the other was over the Pennsylvania  
Railroad but the link below suggests that they are one and the same,  
built

http://pghbridges.com/pittsburghE/0593-4473/braddock.htm

The route cards also suggest continuous problems with the Rankin or  
West Braddock Bridge.

Rankin Circle was built in 1929.  The structure must have been as  
sturdy as schools in the Sichuan provence of China.  Read on McDuff.

On December 6, 1933 the northwest ramp collapsed.   I thought this  
was the issue caused by the overloaded work car but it may not have  
been.   Route 67 Swissvale - Rankin - Braddock was split with a  
shuttle running from Rankin Circle to 13th and Talbot, another  
shuttle running from the collapsed ramp to Wilkinsburg Junction  
(Braddock and Forbes) and the 67 cars running through to Jane St.  
Loop.   They built a temporary wye at the bridge by December 30th but  
did not get through service restored from Pittsburgh to Braddock  
until October 29, 1939, almost six years after the collapse.

Now let's delve into the route 55 cards:

 From June 26, 1937 until November 25, 1937 the Rankin Bridge was  
closed to car operation  "Because of the bridge being destroyed,"  
route 55 was split into two parts, one running from Rankin Circle to  
East Pittsburgh and the other from 800 feet from the circle to  
downtown.   Did they put a temporary crossover on the bridge?   Would  
it support it?   Or did you walk across the bridge and the downtown  
cars were simply turning at Munhall Loop?   Now this was the debacle  
that resulted in the closure of Rankin Car House.

Allegheny County placed a 14,000 pound weight limit on Rankin Bridge  
on January 30, 1942.   Streetcar operation was suspended at 7:00 p.m.  
that day.  They must have done something to reinforce the structure  
because car service resumed October 19, 1942.

In 1951 the new Rankin Bridge opened....

SO, AM I CORRECT IN THE ASSUMPTION THAT WEST BRADDOCK BRIDGE AND  
RANKING BRIDGE ARE THE SAME?