Mahoning Avenue Viaduct

Most Recent Visit To Bridge: July 3, 2006

Key Facts

Bridge Name	Type	Road	Location	City	Crossing
Mahoning Avenue Viaduct	Truss	Mahoning Avenue	Lawrence County, PA	New Castle	Shenango River and Various Railroad

Technical Facts

Construction Date	Structure Length	Deck Width	Bridge Designer	Builder
1923	1195 Feet	32 Feet	Thomas Gilkey	Independent Bridge Company of Pittsburgh, PA

The is New Castle's stunning landmark bridge. With a total length similar to an Ohio River bridge, this structure gets its length from a combined railroad-river crossing. It crosses extensive railroad trackage. The center span of this bridge features a bizzare skew like that seen more clearly on the Mill Street Bridge. According to the mill stamps on the bridge, the steel on this bridge was fabricated by Bethlehem Steel. There is both lattice and v-lacing present on many areas of the bridge. This bridge is interesting because it is a curved bridge, meaning the road actually curves, and as such the truss spans are not lined up in a straight row. Looks like something you would find in Missouri over the Mississippi. This is a spectacular bridge, and a joy to drive across. I hope New Castle ignores the insensitive remarks by the Historic Bridge Inventory, and considers this bridge a historic asset to the city.

I didn't get a chance to try for a side view or under-deck view of this bridge. From the sounds of its description, with deck plate girder approaches and "steel bents" for support, the underside of this bridge is likely to be interesting. The steel bents may be v-laced or latticed.

From the deck of this bridge you can view a railroad bridge that could probably make the top five on a list of the world's most beautiful railroad bridges, the spectacular, yet hard to photo P&LE Big Run Branch Railroad Bridge.

Information and Findings From Pennsylvania's Historic Bridge Inventory

Discussion of Bridge

The 11-span, 1,195'-long, Mahoning Avenue Viaduct built in 1923 consists of 3, pin-connected, Pennsylvania truss main spans of 307', 306', and 227' lengths and 8 built up deck girder approach spans. The substructure consists of concrete abutments and piers with the approaches supported on steel bents on concrete pads. The cantilevered sidewalk is finished with a period metal railing. The bridge was built for the county and the state, and it was designed by Thomas Gilkey who did a great deal of bridge design work for Lawrence County. As a design preference, Mr. Gilkey used pinned connections for his truss bridges through the 1920s. The bridge is a late example of its type and technology, and it is not historically or technologically significant.

Discussion of Surrounding Area

The viaduct carries a two-lane city street and a sidewalk over the Shenango River and numerous trackage associated with the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad, CSXT (formerly the B&O Railroad), and Conrail (formerly the Erie Railroad) in the vicinity of the Pennsylvania Railroad's New Castle Junction and the B & O's New Castle Junction and their New Castle yard. It is in New Castle. Most of the rail yard has been removed as what appears to have been a steel or iron mill beyond the west side of the bridge. The setting does not have integrity.

Bridge Considered Historic By Survey: No