01090957

Component

The City of Pittsburgh’s Boulevard of the Allies Bridges are two state owned bridges built in the early 1920s. They frame the western gateway into Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood, a premiere educational, medical and cultural center. They are currently weight restricted and in need of replacement. In 2000, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation agreed to pursue an open, contextual design process in the replacement of the bridges. A Community Design Advisory Team (CDAT) was set up consisting of state and municipal engineers and planners, Oakland institutions and community organizations, and a local foundation whose financial resources supplemented the design process. The project was the City’s first foray into community contextual design of a major bridge reconstruction project. The goal was to transform the derelict bridges into not only safe and efficient conduits of traffic, but also a regional gateway for Oakland and a community asset for adjacent neighborhoods and development sites. The process of transformation wasn’t easy, nor was it completely successful. After six years of meetings and numerous design deliberations, several tough lessons were learned by all, lessons in contextual bridge design and design processes. This paper outlines the project, its context, decision making procedures, the resulting designs, and the lessons learned - including the appropriate size and composition of the CDAT, the use of visualization tools, the role of the experts, the consideration of public art, and the devastating issues of cost and constructability. The project is now under construction with opening day targeted for the fall of 2008.

01084478

08-0071

English

16p

2008

Transportation Research Board 87th Annual Meeting

DVD

Figures (2) ; Photos (6)

Bridges; City planning; Costs; Decision making; Historic bridges; Historic preservation; Project management; Reconstruction; Rehabilitation

Boulevard of the Allies Bridges

Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania)

Administration and Management; Bridges and other structures; Design; Finance; Highways; History; I24: Design of Bridges and Retaining Walls

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2008 Paper #08-0071

TRIS, TRB

Jan 29 2008 2:27PM