Updated April 19, 2024: The City of Pittsburgh is working with the construction team on the specifics of the construction schedule. Over the next several months, the contractor will work with steel mills to fabricate steel plates and beams to exact dimensions. We anticipate on-site activities to begin summer 2024. Before then, the construction team will host a public meeting to field questions about the bridges, the project schedule, detour routes, and what to expect during day-to-day construction activities.

The goal is to have the bridge re-opened to traffic in Fall 2026.

The bridge will undergo a complete rehabilitation, including a new deck and steel support system, repairs and strengthening of the historic truss, repairs to the concrete piers and abutments, restoration of the original ornamental railings and pylons, and full repainting of the structure.

Bus stops at either end of the bridge will be improved. During the rehabilitation, the sidewalks will be widened to six feet, eight inches and one of the westbound traffic lanes will be reconfigured to a two-way cycle track. This cycle track will connect to the existing facility near the Anderson Playground and DOMI is evaluating the expansion into South Oakland and deeper into Schenley Park.

The bridge was closed immediately on February 1, 2023, due to the findings of a structural analysis from the most recent bridge inspection. In its current state, vehicles cannot cross the bridge. The posted detour was developed to accommodate all vehicle classes including full-size trucks and buses. It is the decision of the driver as to whether or not they chose to use the designated route or navigate an alternative route around the closed bridge.

Some tweaks may be made to the posted detours to accommodate construction access, and those plans will be shared at a community meeting this summer.

PRT has already taken steps to alter bus routes during the closure.

Most special events in Oakland and Schenley Park require small, short-term closures lasting anywhere from a few hours to a weekend. While additional closures do extend the impact of the bridge closures, these events bring people together and are part of the fabric that makes Pittsburgh great. DOMI coordinates closely with the Special Events office to ensure closures have the least impact possible.

An in-depth traffic analysis was done evaluating anticipated traffic in 2025 and 2045 and determined that a single vehicle lane would meet the demands for the inbound traffic volumes on the bridge. Peak traffic volumes on Boulevard of the Allies and Panther Hollow Road are almost three times higher outbound during afternoon rush hour than the inbound morning traffic. The reduction to three lanes on the Charles Anderson Bridge will meet current and projected demands while improving safety in the park and South Oakland.

Unfortunately, due to the scope of work planned, it will not be feasible to maintain access to the sidewalks during construction.

Access to the Junction Hollow Trail and Bridle Trail will be preserved during construction with the possibility of intermittent stoppages of trail usage during construction, as needed, for the safety of trail users. If the Bridle Trail needs to be closed under the bridge during construction, trail users will be directed to the Anderson Playground pedestrian tunnel a short distance away.

The new bridge, once complete will include wider sidewalks, a dedicated cycle track, and improved bus stop locations at either end of the bridge.

Work on Swinburne Bridge won’t start until work on Charles Anderson Bridge is complete or nearing completion. DOMI is aware that the Swinburne Bridge has seen substantially more traffic since the closure. The engineering for the new bridge is still progressing, but in the meantime the bridge is being monitored and inspected regularly to ensure it is safe to use. Work is also being coordinated with schedules for the Commercial Street Bridge Replacement Project to minimize disruptions and overlapping detours.

This Charles Anderson Bridge project is a scheduled, federally-funded project, whereas the collapse of the Fern Hollow Bridge was declared to be a State of Emergency by the the City and the State.

Outside of emergency work, typical federally-funded projects can take upwards of five years to progress from Planning through Engineering. The design process must follow federal project development requirements, and there is oversight of the project to ensure both Federal and State design requirements are met.

There are many design submissions and design clearances that are required before the project funding can be secured and construction can begin. In addition, the complexity of the Charles Anderson Bridge structure requires significantly more engineering and labor to ensure the stability of the structure at all times during construction.

For these reasons, the rehabilitation of the Charles Anderson Bridge will take longer than the reconstruction of the Fern Hollow Bridge after its collapse.