Hill to Hill Bridge

Hill to Hill Bridge

Hill to Hill Bridge heading northbound
Coordinates 40°36′56″N 75°23′05″W / 40.6155°N 75.3846°W / 40.6155; -75.3846Coordinates: 40°36′56″N 75°23′05″W / 40.6155°N 75.3846°W / 40.6155; -75.3846
Carries 4 lanes of PA 378 and 2 sidewalks
Crosses Lehigh River
Locale Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Official name Hill to Hill Bridge
Other name(s) Route 378 Bridge
Characteristics
Design concrete arch truss bridge
History
Opened 1924
Statistics
Toll Free

The Hill to Hill Bridge is a road crossing of the Lehigh River linking the south and north sides of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. It was completed in 1924. It carries Pennsylvania Route 378 from Wyandotte Street on the city's south side to a series of ramps and viaducts on the north side. It replaced a two-lane covered bridge and eliminated several grade crossings of three railroads on the two banks of the Lehigh River. It is located in the Central Bethlehem Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972, with a Boundary Increase in 1988.[1]

History

Prior South Side-North Side crossing

Old bridge, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania postcard photograph from 1906

Prior to Bethlehem's incorporation as a city in 1917, the north side and the south side were independent municipalities. During the latter part of the 1910s, three bridges crossed between Bethlehem and South Bethlehem: the Minsi Trail bridge, the New Street bridge, and the Main Street covered bridge. The Main Street bridge was narrow and was regularly damaged by floods and ice. It crossed several tracks of the Lehigh Valley Railroad and the Reading Railroad on the south side as it led to Wyandotte Street. The Pacific Hotel stood between the southern portal to the covered bridge; the adjacent image shows the active freight and passenger railroad tracks travelers crossed to reach the bridge. To the right (not visible) was Union Station (or Union Depot), the passenger station of the Lehigh Valley and Reading Railroads with service to Buffalo, Harrisburg, New York (Jersey City), and Philadelphia.

Image taken before 1923. Shows Pacific Hotel and southern entrance to covered bridge crossing Lehigh River. Replaced by Hill to Hill Bridge in 1924.

On the north side, it crossed the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Canal and the tracks of the Central Railroad of New Jersey before continuing up Seminary Hill (named for the Moravian Church's Female Seminary) to the Main Street business district.

Construction 1921-1924

Community leaders found the covered bridge to be a barrier to commerce between "the Bethlehems". As a result of the consolidation of the two municipalities into a single city, sufficient resources became available to design and construct a new bridge connecting Fountain Hill and Seminary Hill.

By 1921, a commission was in place to design and oversee the construction of the new Lehigh River span. Commission members were the city's first mayor, Archibald Johnston (chairman), J.S. Krause (vice-chairman), G.H. Blakeley, O.L. Henninger (representing Lehigh County), A.A. Woodring (representing Northampton County), A. Geo. Shoffner (secretary), Dallett H. Wilson (counsel) and C.W. Hudson (engineer).[2]

Construction on the Hill to Hill Bridge began on August 1, 1921, after many previous plans. As constructed, the bridge had nine approaches, eleven abutments, forty-eight piers, and fifty-eight spans. It was considered an engineering marvel of its time. By September 1924, the bridge was complete and provided safe, grade-separated connections between the two halves of the city.

Modernization

The structure of the Hill to Hill Bridge was modified significantly during the years after World War II. The first significant change to traffic on the bridge came during the construction of the expressway portion of Route 378 north of the bridge, known locally as the "Spur Route". Initially, the Second Avenue ramp on the north side was closed in 1967. In 1968, the expressway portion was opened.

Three other ramps were removed as part of safety, structural, and redevelopment efforts. On the north side, The South Main Street ramp leading to Lehigh Street and the industrial area along the Monocacy Creek was removed in 1965. The River Street ramp leading to Sand Island was removed in 1988. On the south side, the Second Street ramp was removed in 1989.[3]

The Hill to Hill Bridge today

The bridge saw extensive repairs in 1990, and was painted in spring of 2009. The painting process had caused two of the four traffic lanes to be closed, and had resulted in major traffic congestion. The painting project was finished in time for the opening of the Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem.

Bridge structure

The bridge is noted for its many ramps and branches. It was designed by Clarence W. Hudson and its structure makes use of "a combination of steel through truss and concrete closed spandrel deck arch spans"[3]

1924 (original) ramps and overcrossings from south to north

Sketch schematic of Hill-to-Hill Bridge approaches and overcrossings as of opening date in 1924.

Current ramps and overcrossings from south to north

Hill-to-Hill Bridge, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in December 2014

See also

References

  1. ↑ National Park Service (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. ↑ Keim, R.R. (1924). The Hill-to-Hill Bridge [of] Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Bethlehem, Pennsylvania: Times Publishing Company. p. 21.
  3. 1 2 "Hill to Hill Bridge - Historicbridges.org". Historic Bridges Bridge Browser. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  4. ↑ Keim, R.R. (1924). The Hill-to-Hill Bridge [of] Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Bethlehem, Pennsylvania: Times Publishing Company.
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