Wissahickon Memorial Bridge
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Ralph Modjeski
The Wissahickon Memorial Bridge, originally called and still also known as the Henry Avenue Bridge, is a stone and concrete bridge that carries Henry Avenue over Wissahickon Creek and Lincoln Drive in Fairmount Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
History
It is a two-ribbed, open-spandrel, reinforced concrete arch bridge with one principal span. It was designed in 1927 by Paul Philippe Cret, a nationally acclaimed Philadelphia architect, in collaboration with Frank M. Masters, engineered by Ralph Modjeski and Clement E. Chase.
It was completed in May 1932 at a cost of $1,648,775. It was designed to accommodate a lower deck, never constructed, to be used by trolleys or a subway extension to Roxborough.[2] Shortly after its completion, it was renamed the Wissahickon Memorial Bridge and was dedicated to the people of Philadelphia's northwest neighborhoods who served in World War I.[3]
The bridge is 333 feet long, with a main span of 288 feet. Its 60-ft-wide roadway carries two lanes of traffic in each direction. The roadway is approximately 170 feet above the ground.[4] The bridge was repaved and repaired between 2008 and late 2010.
The bridge has been known as a suicide bridge since its opening. Beginning in 1941 for an unknown duration of time a policeman patrolled the span, questioning all pedestrians walking the bridge.[5]
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. The bridge was featured as a filming location in the 1981 film Blow Out starring John Travolta and directed by Brian De Palma.[6]
See also
- List of bridges documented by the Historic American Engineering Record in Pennsylvania
- Walnut Lane Bridge
References
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
- ^ Gruen, J. Phillip (August 1997). "Henry Avenue Bridge" (PDF). Historic American Engineering Record. National Park Service. p. 11.
- ^ "Henry Avenue Bridge". Friends of Wissahickon. Retrieved 2022-06-16.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2014-07-10.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "STATION POLICEMAN ON SUICIDE BRIDGE", Painesville Telegraph, December 6, 1941, accessed February 18, 2011.
- ^ November 26, Ma José Gómez; Pm, 2017 at 3:15. "Blow Out (1981) Filming Locations". The Movie District. Retrieved 2020-08-20.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
External links
- Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. PA-464, "Henry Avenue Bridge"
- Henry Avenue Bridge data from the Philadelphia Architects and Buildings (PAB) project of the Athenaeum of Philadelphia
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