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Constructed in 1931–32 by the American Bridge Company, the West End-North Side Bridge opened in the midst of the Great Depression. Civic boosters like Henry Tranter, head of Tranter Manufacturing and a member of the Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce Highways and Bridges Committee, lobbied Allegheny County for years to build a connection between the residential neighborhoods on the south side of the Ohio River and the manufacturing and industrial jobs on Pittsburgh’s North Side. In the 1920s, Pittsburgh, like many American cities, was in the midst of a public works building boom that included the construction of the Liberty Bridge and Liberty Tunnels (among many other infrastructure projects). The goal was to retrofit the city for automobile traffic, modernizing Pittsburgh and preparing the metropolis for a new age of prosperity. Tranter and his fellow boosters believed that the West End-North Side Bridge would relieve traffic congestion downtown and encourage economic development on both sides of the Ohio River.

The bridge was among a slate of projects funded by a 1928 bond issue of nearly $44 million. By the time the contract was awarded to the American Bridge Company to forge the trusses for the long-span tied-arch design, the stock market crash of October 1929 had plunged the country into the Depression. The West End-North Side Bridge would not be the economic boon that Tranter had hoped.

Discovering America: Reconnecting People and Places

The Great American Rail-Trail promises an all-new American experience. Through 12 states and the District of Columbia, the trail will directly serve nearly 50 million people within 50 miles of the route. Across the nation—and the world—only the limits of imagination will limit its use.

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