PITTSBURGH — The Fern Hollow Bridge in Frick Park was built over 14 months in 1972 and 1973 for $1.2 million, replacing a 70-year-old bridge that was closed because it was deemed "hazardous" and to have "extreme deterioration," according to stories at the time.
About 50 years later, that new bridge is now in crumbled pieces in the ravine below after collapsing Friday morning, injuring 10 people.
The 1970s bridge was designed by the engineering company Richardson, Gordon & Associates of Pittsburgh, a renowned company that had also designed the Fort Pitt and Fort Duquesne bridges Downtown, among others.
The company's sleek and spare design for the bridge was celebrated at the time.
The bridge was honored as one of the country's best new bridges in 1974 by the American Institute of Steel Construction. The institute found that the new bridge's "sloping piers and relationship to the hillsides give the entire structure a sense of logic and beauty," according to a story in the Pittsburgh Press at the time.
Richardson, Gordon & Associates was bought by nationally prominent company HDR Inc. in 1985.
HDR is still prominent locally, having designed the new Greenfield Bridge that spans Interstate 376, not far from the Fern Hollow Bridge. HDR is also one of the two designers for the new Pittsburgh International Airport terminal.
HDR spokesman Jim Camoriano said in an email: "Our thoughts go out to those who were injured in the Fern Hollow Bridge collapse, and we commend those who joined the rescue efforts."
He added: "In 1985, HDR acquired the bridge’s original designer, RG&A. We were last involved with the bridge in 2001, performing an inspection as part of a contract with PennDOT. Since that time, the bridge has been inspected multiple times by other firms."
Camoriano did not answer whether the company has been contacted since the collapse, referring questions to the city.
The company that constructed the bridge, Conn Construction Company of New Castle, also no longer exists. It was merged into a company, New Castle Enterprises, which later became Bridges & Towers Inc. No one from the company could be reached on Saturday.
The collapse came in the wake of troubling inspections dating to 2011 that show the aging span has been rated in poor condition, according to the National Bridge Inventory.
Records from the inventory show that the bridge was consistently found to be in poor shape during inspections from 2011 to 2017, with estimated repairs at $1.5 million.
Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey said the bridge was last inspected in September 2021. A statewide report from last year noted the bridge was still in poor condition.
City Councilman Corey O'Connor, whose district includes the bridge, said the city's Department of Mobility and Infrastructure was looking at the September inspection report of the bridge to determine if anything was missed.
"I think we have to as a city moving forward with so many bridges, tunnels, things like that, we have to look at what those inspections mean, get into greater detail," he said. "I know there are state and federal rules and regulations around these bridges. Maybe even at a local level we (need to) bump up our standards so that something like this doesn't happen again."
The bridge, owned by the city of Pittsburgh, was a 497-foot bridge with a three-span steel rigid frame and carried 14,000 vehicles a day.
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