[PRCo] PRCo Bridge Collapse

[Bill Huston]

I have answered my own question. I Googled it and came up with a McKeesport Daily News history column that is published every Saturday in the newspaper. I'll copy and paste it here.GERRY JURANNBygone Days: Rankin Bridge   A150-foot section of the 35-year-old wooden bridge structure fell on Dec. 6, 1933, injuring three trolley car workers and an oil truck driver.   The Rankin Bridge caved in with two trolleys and a heavy oil truck and dropped them into the Baltimore and Ohio railroad tracks 40 feet below. The men were in serious condition.   The bridge spans the Monongahela River to connect Rankin and Duquesne Junction. The part that collapsed extended from a traffic circle about 100 feet from the river shore to the Rankin end of the bridge.   Appearance of the bridge extension following the collapse was like a dip in a roller coaster, with the floor of the span settling down upon the tracks rather than leaving a broken hole in the structure.   The collapse occurred as the trolleys, one loaded with sand and the other with slag, came abreast of each other moving in opposite directions, a short distance from the north end of the bridge, before the river begins. The truck was loaded with empty oil cans and was following one trolley.   The injured were Earl McKelvey, 27, a truck driver, with back and leg injuries; Frank J. Hess, motorman, with possible leg fracture; Francesco Graeco, 45, head injury; and Wesley Becker, operator of one of the trolleys, was sent to Mercy Hospital with unspecified injuries.   Howard Jackson of Pittsburgh was driving his automobile across the bridge behind one of the trolleys when he saw the three vehicles begin falling through and heard the deafening roar of the collapsing bridge. He halted just in time to avoid plunging through the hole.   B&O trains were flagged immediately following the collapse at 10 a.m. and railroad, street and automobile traffic were re-routed. A wreck train began removal of debris. Police deputized civilians to aid traffic direction. The main part of the bridge was continued in use but both the collapsed section and a second extension leading toward Braddock were closed.   On Dec. 7, 1933, Commissioner C. C. McGovern said Allegheny County would not rebuild the ramp of the Munhall-Rankin Bridge extension. He placed blame for the bridge collapse on the Pittsburgh Railways for permitting two cars upon the extension at the same time.   After investigating the broken span in company with Commissioner C. M. Barr it was declared that the county was blameless. The bridge was adequate for a reasonable amount of traffic. The streetcar company had an easement permitting them to use the bridge for a yearly charge which was equal to the maintenance cost of the bridge.   Heavy work trains of the railroad had the tracks cleared the same day. Only one street car line was affected by the collapse. Passengers on Route 67 between Rankin and Braddock were forced to transfer cars and walk around the cave in section.   The collapse ripped down telephone cables leading from McKeesport to Pittsburgh, but an auxiliary circuit over another route prevented an interruption of service.   Gerry Jurann is a former Daily News librarian.
Bill
 http://csxmonsub.rrpicturearchives.net/



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