[PRCo] Re: Route 18 bridge to be removed

Wed Nov 11 18:02:29 EST 2009

For those who have not looked at them, you might also wish to try  
Bing maps.

www.bing.com/maps.

In major cities they will allow you to fly your computer down the  
streets at low altitude ... about 500 feet ... looking north, east,  
south and west at the building fronts.   I had forgotten to label all  
the slides I took in Stockholm in 2004.   Between google maps (with  
their ability to match areas with wikipedia encyclopedia pages) and  
bing maps, I was able to take a tour of Stockholm without leaving my  
desk.   The hardest problem was a group of old wooden buildings I had  
photographed on the southern island.   Well, I was able to fly my  
plane up one street and down another until I found those houses!      
The slides now read: Houses on Fjällgatan just east of Katarinnavägan.

Of course the level of detail varies with what they perceive to be  
the user's desire to have it.   In places like midtown Manhattan or  
San Francisco, you will be able to count the people walking on the  
streets in the satellite and low altitude pictures.   Do not expect  
to find a whole lot of detail in rural Wyoming.

Here is a long link (and you may have to paste it back together) that  
leads to a bing map aerial view that just happens to show a  
Pittsburgh light rail car about the Liberty Tubes.

http://www.bing.com/maps/ 
#JnE9eXAuUGl0dHNidXJnaCUyYytQQStVU0ElN2Vzc3QuMCU3ZXBnLjEmYmI9NTkuNDY0MDY 
4Mzg4MjkzNCU3ZTE3LjgxOTgwNzY2NTQ2OTIlN2U1OS40NjAzNTIzODIzNzY2JTdlMTcuODE 
1NzMyMjg0NTE2Ng==

It's worth a few hours of practice getting used to how to use those  
on-line maps.    You can take that image, click and drag and see all  
the nice buildings downtown.   You can turn the street names off and  
on ... they get in the way.

The birds-eye views are not available everywhere ... for example at  
Arden, only satellite pictures are available.   Here is the link to  
bing maps that leads to the satellite image at the carbarn at PTM.    
It was a fall operating day with two cars on the platform.

http://www.bing.com/maps/ 
#JnE9eXAuV2FzaGluZ3RvbiUyYytQQStNdXNldW0rUm9hZCthdCtOb3J0aCtNYWluK1N0JTd 
lc3N0LjAlN2VwZy4xJmJiPTQwLjQxNjg4OTY2ODg3ODMlN2UtODAuMDA4MjY5NzY1MDg4JTd 
lNDAuNDE0MTIzMzAzODg0NyU3ZS04MC4wMTM2MTc0OTYzNDAx
Fred

On Nov 11, 2009, at 9:22 PM, Mark McGuire wrote:

>  Thanks, Fred.  So as Ed stated, the trolley ran right under the  
> road here also(well, adjacent actually) until they filled it in.   
> I'm actually surprised that the shell of the Tylerdale Substation  
> has not been torn down. Is there a reason for this besides money?  
> Probably not.
>
>
> ---------- Original Message ----------
> From: Schneider Fred <fwschneider at comcast.net>
> To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
> Subject: [PRCo] Re: Route 18 bridge to be removed
> Date: Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:38:24 -0500
>
> Mark, route 18 is Henderson Avenue.   Remember the Jefferson - Maiden
> car line in Washington was where the line came out of of
> Washington.   The trolley crossed over or under the Pennsylvania
> Railroad three times in route to Pittsburgh:
> (1) Jefferson Avenue in Washington on the bridge.   Then it ran
> beside the railroad to the north end of the museum property and
> within a block or so of it all the way to Morganza.
>
> (2) Richfol trestle between Canonsburg and Morganza.
>
> (3)  It went under the railroad (at that point the used by Washington
> trains as well as St. Louis trains) at the immediate north end of
> South Hills Tunnel.
>
> It is going to be hard to show you a map that you can open but I will
> attach a link to goggle maps.   It will long one and you will
> probably have to retype it to get it to work.   The easier way will
> be for you to type google maps into your search engine.   When you
> get their home page, type the following into it washington pa -
> Henderson Ave at Oak Grove Rd and press enter.   The bridge will be
> on Henderson just east of Oak Grove.
>
>
> On Nov 11, 2009, at 7:43 PM, Mark McGuire wrote:
>
>>   Could someone please point this out to me on a map? I'm a little
>> confused. Thanks in advance.
>>
>>
>> ---------- Original Message ----------
>> From: "Edward H. Lybarger" <trams2 at comcast.net>
>> To: <pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org>
>> Subject: [PRCo] Re: Route 18 bridge to be removed
>> Date: Fri, 6 Nov 2009 13:47:58 -0500
>>
>> This, of course, is directly adjacent to the fill that replaced the
>> highway
>> bridge over the Washington Interurban.  PRCo was absolutely certain
>> that
>> they'd be able to walk away from that structure, but the  
>> Department of
>> Highways had other ideas.
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementia.org
>> [mailto:pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementia.org] On Behalf Of
>> Derrick
>> Brashear
>> Sent: Friday, November 06, 2009 12:02 PM
>> To: Pittsburgh Railways Group
>> Subject: [PRCo] Route 18 bridge to be removed
>>
>> Looks like the bridge where the railroad adjacent to the line at
>> Tylerdale's
>> gonna be removed.
>>
>> http://www.observer-reporter.com/or/localnews/11-06-2009--Route-18-
>> bridge
>>
>> Route 18 bridge to be removed
>>
>> By Kathie O. Warco, Staff writer, kwarco at observer-reporter.com
>>
>> A bridge on Route 18 (Henderson Avenue) that spans what used to be a
>> railroad line at the Washington-Canton Township line will soon be
>> history.
>> Representatives of the state Department of Transportation on  
>> Wednesday
>> presented plans for the removal of the bridge near the Washington
>> Estates
>> trailer park at an open house at the Canton Township recreation
>> hall. The
>> area will be backfilled, eliminating the need for a bridge.
>>
>> "We'll also be dropping the road by as much as seven feet," said
>> Andrew
>> Benchek, project manager for PennDOT. "That will allow us to widen
>> the road
>> to 11-foot lanes and a four-foot shoulder."
>>
>> The project will be bid in January. The work will be done later
>> that year.
>>
>> Because of the design of the concrete girder floor beam bridge, the
>> work
>> will necessitate the closure of Route 18 for four to six weeks,
>> Benchek
>> said.
>> "We will develop a construction schedule that is very aggressive,"
>> Benchek said. "We realize we need to consider school bus routes and
>> the
>> Washington County Fair."
>>
>> "We want to be aggressive and push the envelope on this," he added.
>> "We may set a milestone date for the contractor to have the work
>> done."
>>
>> Benchek said that the average daily number of vehicles on that
>> stretch of
>> road is 13,374. The detour will take traffic coming into Washington
>> from the
>> Hickory area onto Oak Grove Road. Traffic will turn right on North
>> Main
>> Street in South Strabane Township to West Chestnut Street in
>> Washington and
>> back to Jefferson Avenue.
>>
>> "We were very mindful of the amount of traffic," Benchek said. "We
>> felt this
>> was the best solution."
>>
>> Access to the businesses and homes in the area will be maintained.
>>
>> Benchek said that removing the bridge and replacing it with the
>> fill is more
>> cost-effective.
>>
>> "There is no longer a railroad underneath so there is no need for a
>> structure," Benchek said. "We are saving at least $1 million by not
>> replacing the bridge. Plus we don't have to worry about maintaining
>> it."
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Derrick
>>
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