Watch this cool time lapse of the installation of the 62-ton Bike/ped bridge in Whitaker

Soon, only a one mile gap at Sandcastle stands in the way of the Pittsburgh to Washington DC car-free ride

According to Paul Heckbert, board member of the Steel Valley Trail Council (SVTC)

These bridges are critical links in the Steel Valley Trail along the Monongahela River, which forms part of the Great Allegheny Passage bike trail from Pittsburgh toward Washington DC.

As of July 2010, this section of trail is not open (it will take months to build the ramps up to these bridges) but at least the hardest part of the construction — installing these bridges over active railroad tracks — is done.  For now the contiguous portion of the GAP starts in Duquesne at Grant Ave. When the ramps and surface work is done, the trail will be extended from Duquesne, past Kennywood, to the Waterfront in Homestead. Then these bridges will be opened. That is expected in late 2010 or early 2011. At that point, the need for an agreement with Sandcastle, and closure of that short gap, will become even clearer than it is already!

Steel Valley Trail Council relies on volunteers. If you’d like to help maintain, publicize, and build these trails, see the Steel Valley Trail Council website.

Media:

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

KDKA and a VIDEO

You can join a conversation about the new bridges on the BikePGH Messageboard