1.
Pittsburgh
–
Pittsburgh is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the United States, and is the county seat of Allegheny County. The city proper has a population of 304,391. The metropolitan population of 2,353,045 is the largest in both the Ohio Valley and Appalachia, the second-largest in Pennsylvania, and the 26th-largest in the U. S. The city features 30 skyscrapers, two inclines, a fortification and the Point State Park at the confluence of the rivers. Aside from steel, Pittsburgh has led in manufacturing of aluminum, glass, shipbuilding, petroleum, foods, sports, transportation, computing, autos, and electronics. For part of the 20th century, Pittsburgh was behind only New York and Chicago in corporate headquarters employment, Americas 1980s deindustrialization laid off area blue-collar workers and thousands of downtown white-collar workers when the longtime Pittsburgh-based world headquarters moved out. The area has served also as the federal agency headquarters for cyber defense, software engineering, robotics, energy research. The area is home to 68 colleges and universities, including research and development leaders Carnegie Mellon University, the region is a hub for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, sustainable energy, and energy extraction. Pittsburgh was named in 1758 by General John Forbes, in honor of British statesman William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham. The current pronunciation, which is unusual in English speaking countries, is almost certainly a result of a printing error in some copies of the City Charter of March 18,1816. The error was repeated commonly enough throughout the rest of the 19th century that the pronunciation was lost. After a public campaign the original spelling was restored by the United States Board on Geographic Names in 1911. The area of the Ohio headwaters was long inhabited by the Shawnee, the first known European to enter the region was the French explorer/trader Robert de La Salle from Quebec during his 1669 expedition down the Ohio River. European pioneers, primarily Dutch, followed in the early 18th century, Michael Bezallion was the first to describe the forks of the Ohio in a 1717 manuscript, and later that year European fur traders established area posts and settlements. In 1749, French soldiers from Quebec launched an expedition to the forks to unite Canada with French Louisiana via the rivers, during 1753–54, the British hastily built Fort Prince George before a larger French force drove them off. The French built Fort Duquesne based on LaSalles 1669 claims, the French and Indian War, the North American front of the Seven Years War, began with the future Pittsburgh as its center. British General Edward Braddock was dispatched with Major George Washington as his aide to take Fort Duquesne, the British and colonial force were defeated at Braddocks Field. General John Forbes finally took the forks in 1758, Forbes began construction on Fort Pitt, named after William Pitt the Elder while the settlement was named Pittsborough
2.
Pennsylvania
–
Pennsylvania /ˌpɛnsᵻlˈveɪnjə/, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state located in the northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The Appalachian Mountains run through its middle, Pennsylvania is the 33rd largest, the 5th most populous, and the 9th most densely populated of the 50 United States. The states five most populous cities are Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie, the state capital, and its ninth-largest city, is Harrisburg. Pennsylvania has 140 miles of shoreline along Lake Erie and the Delaware Estuary. The state is one of the 13 original founding states of the United States, it came into being in 1681 as a result of a land grant to William Penn. Part of Pennsylvania, together with the present State of Delaware, had earlier been organized as the Colony of New Sweden and it was the second state to ratify the United States Constitution, on December 12,1787. Independence Hall, where the United States Declaration of Independence and United States Constitution were drafted, is located in the states largest city of Philadelphia, during the American Civil War, the Battle of Gettysburg, was fought in the south central region of the state. Valley Forge near Philadelphia was General Washingtons headquarters during the winter of 1777–78. Pennsylvania is 170 miles north to south and 283 miles east to west, of a total 46,055 square miles,44,817 square miles are land,490 square miles are inland waters, and 749 square miles are waters in Lake Erie. It is the 33rd largest state in the United States, Pennsylvania has 51 miles of coastline along Lake Erie and 57 miles of shoreline along the Delaware Estuary. Cities include Philadelphia, Reading, Lebanon and Lancaster in the southeast, Pittsburgh in the southwest, the tri-cities of Allentown, Bethlehem, the northeast includes the former anthracite coal mining communities of Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Pittston City, and Hazleton. Erie is located in the northwest, the state has 5 regions, namely the Allegheny Plateau, Ridge and Valley, Atlantic Coastal Plain, Piedmont, and the Erie Plain. Straddling two major zones, the majority of the state, with the exception of the corner, has a humid continental climate. The largest city, Philadelphia, has characteristics of the humid subtropical climate that covers much of Delaware. Moving toward the interior of the state, the winter climate becomes colder, the number of cloudy days increase. Western areas of the state, particularly locations near Lake Erie, can receive over 100 inches of snowfall annually, the state may be subject to severe weather from spring through summer into fall. Tornadoes occur annually in the state, sometimes in large numbers, the Tuscarora Nation took up temporary residence in the central portion of Pennsylvania ca. Both the Dutch and the English claimed both sides of the Delaware River as part of their lands in America
3.
Lane
–
In the context of traffic control, a lane is part of a roadway that is designated for use by a single line of vehicles, to control and guide drivers and reduce traffic conflicts. Most public roads have at least two lanes, one for traffic in each direction, separated by lane markings, on multilane roadways and busier two-lane roads, lanes are designated with road surface markings. Major highways often have two multi-lane roadways separated by a median, some roads and bridges that carry very low volumes of traffic are less than 15 feet wide, and are only a single lane wide. Vehicles travelling in opposite directions must slow or stop to each other. In rural areas, these are often called country lanes, in urban areas, alleys are often only one lane wide. Urban and suburban one lane roads are designated for one-way traffic. A traffic lane or travel lane is a lane for the movement of vehicles traveling from one destination to another, a through lane or thru lane is a traffic lane for through traffic. At intersections, these may be indicated by arrows on the pavement pointing straight ahead, an express lane of a road is used for faster moving traffic and has less access to exits/off ramps. In other areas, an express lane may refer to a HOV lane, a reversible lane is a lane where the direction of traffic can be changed to match the peak flow. They are used to accommodate periods of traffic flow, especially rush hour where the flow is predominantly in one direction, on roads that cannot be easily widened such as over bridges. One or more lanes are removed from the flow and added to the peak flow. An auxiliary lane is an other than a through lane. An acceleration lane or merge lane allows traffic entering a highway to accelerate to the speed of traffic before merging with it. A turn lane is set aside for slowing down and making a turn, by removing turning traffic from the through lanes, motorist safety is improved and delay is removed, but crossing distances for pedestrians are lengthened, increasing their exposure to collisions. A two-way center turn lane is a lane in the center of a roadway to allow drivers traveling in either direction to pause before turning across oncoming traffic while waiting for a gap in traffic. A passing lane is provided on busy two-lane roads to allow drivers to pass slower vehicles without having to cross the center line. A climbing lane, truck lane, or crawler lane is provided on steep mountain grades. The lane is marked only on the stretch and usually a short distance afterward
4.
Tunnel
–
A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through the surrounding soil/earth/rock and enclosed except for entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube construction techniques rather than traditional tunnel boring methods, a tunnel may be for foot or vehicular road traffic, for rail traffic, or for a canal. The central portions of a transit network are usually in tunnel. Some tunnels are aqueducts to supply water for consumption or for hydroelectric stations or are sewers, utility tunnels are used for routing steam, chilled water, electrical power or telecommunication cables, as well as connecting buildings for convenient passage of people and equipment. Secret tunnels are built for military purposes, or by civilians for smuggling of weapons, contraband, special tunnels, such as wildlife crossings, are built to allow wildlife to cross human-made barriers safely. A tunnel is relatively long and narrow, the length is much greater than twice the diameter, although similar shorter excavations can be constructed. The definition of what constitutes a tunnel can vary widely from source to source, for example, the definition of a road tunnel in the United Kingdom is defined as a subsurface highway structure enclosed for a length of 150 metres or more. In the United States, the NFPA definition of a tunnel is An underground structure with a length greater than 23 m. The place where a road, railway, canal or watercourse passes under a footpath, cycleway, or another road or railway is most commonly called a bridge or, if passing under a canal, an aqueduct. Where it is important to stress that it is passing underneath, it may be called an underpass, a longer underpass containing a road, canal or railway is normally called a tunnel, whether or not it passes under another item of infrastructure. An underpass of any length under a river is usually called a tunnel. In the US, the term means an underground rapid transit system. Rail station platforms may be connected by tunnels or footbridges. Much of the technology of tunneling evolved from mining and military engineering. The etymology of the mining, military engineering, and civil engineering reveals these deep historic connections. A major tunnel project must start with an investigation of ground conditions by collecting samples from boreholes. An informed choice can then be made of machinery and methods for excavation and ground support, in planning the route, the horizontal and vertical alignments can be selected to make use of the best ground and water conditions. It is common practice to locate a tunnel deeper than otherwise would be required and this may be a particular concern in large-diameter tunnels
5.
Dormont, Pennsylvania
–
Dormont is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States and is part of the Pittsburgh Metro Area. The population was 8,593 at the 2010 census, Dormont is a home to a diverse population including young professionals, working families, and retirees. Dormont is mixed use and urban and features a friendly business district, with bars, coffee shops, restaurants. It is famous for one of the largest municipal pools in Pennsylvania, loosely translated, Dormont means Mountain of Gold in French. In following years, Dormont’s area was part of Cumberland County, Pitt Township in Bedford County, Penn Township in Washington County, Dormont was originally fashioned from parts of Scott and Union Townships. An order of incorporation was signed on March 31,1909, Municipal officials initially wanted to name the new community Mt. Lebanon, however objections were raised by their as yet unincorporated neighbors to the south who eventually adopted the name. Instead the name Dormont was chosen from the Americanized version of the French term mont dor, the first election of Borough officials was held on April 27,1909. With the construction of the tunnel and the Liberty Tunnels came rapid growth. Once the borough of Dormont was incorporated in 1909, at least 30 different streets were given new names, today, all but two of Dormonts streets are designated as avenues, the exceptions being Memorial Drive and Park Blvd. Two of Dormonts mainline streets, Scott Road and McFarland Road, are two-lane borough line streets in one lane is located in Dormont. The northern stretch of another borough line street, McNeilly Avenue, runs through Dormont on one side, before the incorporation and street name changes, Dormont actually had three designated streets, Beech St. Sycamore St. and Sylvester St. Through the years, the convenience of the borough, plus the amenities offered its residents, has kept it densely populated. Dormont Day, the annual Fourth of July park-wide event, is the highlight of the summer season, twenty-One Gun Salute and culminating with one of the most spectacular fireworks displays for a community of this size. During the day, park goers are treated to music, picnics, food booths, games, pony rides. Since 1965, Dormonts school system, Keystone Oaks School District, is a jointure with the boroughs of Castle Shannon, the borough itself includes Dormont Elementary School, Keystone Oaks Middle School and Keystone Oaks High School. Oddly enough, none of the three communities which make up the Keystone Oaks School District are contiguous, also, the Keystone Oaks Middle and High Schools are located just outside the Dormont borough line in neighboring Mt. Lebanon. Dormont Elementary School is located on the site of the old Dormont High School on Annapolis Ave, when the Keystone Oaks High School building was completed in 1969, the old high school was changed to Jay Neff Middle School, named after the superintendent of Dormont schools. In 1996, the old school was demolished and Keystone Oaks High School expanded to include Keystone Oaks Middle School
6.
Transportation in Pittsburgh
–
Pittsburgh, surrounded by rivers and hills, has a unique transportation infrastructure that includes roads, tunnels, bridges, railroads, inclines, bike paths, and stairways. Pittsburgh has a number of freeze/thaw cycles in the winter. The hills and rivers form many barriers to transportation within the city, the main highway connecting Pittsburgh to the Pennsylvania Turnpike on the east is I-376, known to locals as the Parkway East. It includes the locally-notorious Squirrel Hill interchange, where unusual traffic patterns, several accidents have involved tall trucks getting stuck against the tunnel roof. I-279, known as the Parkway North, runs north of the city to merge with I-79 and it connects the city with the North Hills and the Cranberry area. Unlike many other major U. S. cities, Pittsburgh lacks a dedicated contiguous beltway surrounding the city, the Allegheny County Belt System is an attempt at dealing with this without building additional infrastructure. The Pittsburgh Wayfinder System is a system that aims to guide travelers to popular destinations. On August 25,1995, six people were killed in a collision on the HOV lanes after PennDOT employee William Dean Snyder failed to follow procedures. Snyder maintained open the gates for both directions simultaneously. Pittsburgh is a city of bridges, over 2,000 bridges dot the landscape of Allegheny County, the southern entrance to Downtown is through the Fort Pitt Tunnel and then over the Fort Pitt Bridge. The Panhandle Bridge, a railroad bridge, carries the Port Authoritys Blue. Other notable bridges are Fort Duquesne Bridge, the Liberty Bridge, the city is served by Pittsburgh International Airport in suburban Findlay Township, Pennsylvania, formerly a hub and key focus city for US Airways. General aviation is served by the Allegheny County Airport and its terminal is of a 1920s art-deco design. It once hosted Charles Lindbergh and handles 139,000 private, a secondary reliever airport is in the eastern suburb of Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Other area airports include, Local public transportation is coordinated by the Port Authority of Allegheny County, or PAT and it services 730 square miles, including all of Allegheny county and portions of Armstrong, Beaver, Washington, and Westmoreland counties. PAT maintains a network of intracity bus routes, two inclines on Mt. Washington above Downtown, and a light rail/busway system, PAT discontinued its commuter rail system, the PATrain, in 1989. The current network comprises five routes on 25 miles of track, although most is on dedicated right-of-way, including the Mt. Washington Transit Tunnel, trains still street run in the Beechview neighborhood. Once across the Monongahela River trains enter a subway to serve Downtown Pittsburgh, since March 2012, the North Shore Connector has extended service across the Allegheny River, via tunnel, to such destinations as PNC Park, Heinz Field, and Rivers Casino
7.
Wabash Tunnel
–
The Wabash Tunnel is a former railway tunnel and presently an automobile tunnel through Mt. Washington in the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Constructed early in the 20th century by railroad magnate George J. Gould, it was closed to trains, conceived in the late 1800s, the tunnel was built in 1903 for Goulds Wabash Railroad venture into Pittsburgh, which failed in 1908. It carried passenger trains into the city until 1931, and freight trains until 1946, after the end of train service, the tunnel sat empty for many years. The tunnel was connected to the Wabash Bridge across the Monongahela River, but this was demolished in 1948. Its two stone piers remain in the river. In the early 1970s the Port Authority of Allegheny County spent US$6 million rebuilding the tunnel for the never-to-be-operational Skybus people mover system, during this period, the tunnel was used to hold up to 87 of PATs disused 1950s-era transit buses in reserve. The tunnel portals were reinforced to deter vandals, to the satisfaction of PATs insurers, despite this, in 1980, vandals gained access and smashed hundreds of windows and headlights on the two rows of buses parked inside. By 1992, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation was considering using the Wabash Tunnel as a roadway to compensate for a closure of the Fort Pitt Tunnel. As part of the conversion to a roadway, the guideways for the Skybus system were removed and replaced with new paving, when awarded in 1994, the contract for this work was worth US$3.2 million. However, in 1995, PAT declined to build a new bridge to connect the tunnel with downtown Pittsburgh. On July 23,2003 PAT approved contracts for US$10.9 million to build high-occupancy vehicle ramps and modernized the tunnel, as well as provide a 172-space park-and-ride lot along Woodruff Street. The little-used HOV lane was opened on December 27,2004, running from West Carson St. on the South Side, the Fort Pitt Tunnel to the west and the Liberty Tunnels to the east carry nearly all of the vehicular traffic heading downtown. On November 6,2013 the Federal Transit Administration lifted the car pool requirements to provide a route for drivers. Originally built for the Wabash Railroad, the Pittsburgh and West Virginia Railroad acquired it along with most of the property in 1917. The tunnel was sold in 1931 to Allegheny County for $US3 million, the county intended to convert it to a road and use it to relieve the traffic congestion in the Liberty Tunnels, and in 1933 commissioned a $5000 study to investigate this concept. As of April 2006, the tunnel was operated and maintained for PAT by Bruce & Merrilees, the tunnels north portal was severely damaged in a 1925 landslide. The tunnel was closed due to fallen trees on July 19,2012. Wabash Bridge Wabash Pittsburgh Terminal – A large railroad terminal that was located in downtown, across the river from the tunnel portal
8.
Panhandle Bridge
–
The Panhandle Bridge carries two rail lines of the Port Authority T line across the Monongahela River in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The name comes from Pennsylvania Railroad subsidiary Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad, also known as the Panhandle Route, the basic structure was built in 1903, and was the third railroad bridge on the site since 1863. It was raised in 1912-14 as part of a grade separation project, the bridges function was to carry Panhandle Route passenger, mail and express trains from Pennsylvania Station in Pittsburgh, with a tunnel in between the station and the bridge. Pennsy Panhandle freight trains utilized the Ohio Connecting Bridge slightly downstream on the Ohio River, or went the way around the West Virginia Panhandle via Conway. Rail traffic over the Panhandle Bridge declined as passenger trains were discontinued, and Amtrak became the regular user of the bridge from 1971 to 1979. Louis-Kansas City National Limited was discontinued on October 1 of that year, PAT light rail cars began using the bridge on July 7,1985
9.
Schenley Bridge
–
Schenley Bridge connects Schenley Plaza to Schenley Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It carries Schenley Drive over Junction Hollow to Frew Street and Flagstaff Hill and this bridge in the citys Oakland district is one element of a grand main entrance into the park. Its span is 620 feet and it arches 120 feet above the hollow, erected in 1897, it replaced a temporary structure by the same name dating from 1890, a year after the park opened. In 1890, the year after the City of Pittsburgh received the land for Schenley Park, the present Schenley Bridge replaced this structure in 1897. One of the plans was to remove the temporary trestle. It has been speculated that the fire destroyed the Schenley Park Casino near the temporary bridge was also a factor leading to the erection of a wholly new bridge at Panther Hollow. As built, the Schenley Bridge and the Panther Hollow Bridge are near twins—built concurrently, recently, several love padlocks have started appearing on the bridge. Pittsburghs Landmark Architecture, The Historic Buildings of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County, Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation. Schenley Bridge at pghbridges. com Schenley Bridge at pghbridges. com Schenley Park website Bridges of Schenley Park
10.
Smithfield Street Bridge
–
The Smithfield Street Bridge is a lenticular truss bridge crossing the Monongahela River in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. The bridge was designed by Gustav Lindenthal, the engineer who designed the Hell Gate Bridge in New York City. The Smithfield Street Bridge was built between 1881 and 1883, opening for traffic on March 19,1883 and it was widened in 1889 and widened again in 1911. The bridge has been designated a National Historic Civic Engineering Landmark, a National Historic Landmark, the present bridge is the third bridge at the site and remains the second oldest steel bridge in the United States. In 1818, a bridge was built across the Monongahela by Louis Wernwag at a cost of $102,000. This bridge was destroyed in Pittsburghs Great Fire of 1845, the second bridge on the site was a wire rope suspension bridge built by John A. Roebling. Increases in both traffic and river traffic eventually made the lightly built bridge with eight short spans inadequate. The present Lindenthal bridge was built in its place, using the Roebling bridges stone masonry piers, the Smithfield Street Bridge is the penultimate of the many bridges which span the Monongahela before the river joins with the Allegheny River to form the Ohio River at Downtown Pittsburgh. The Fort Pitt Bridge is further downstream of it, the tracks occupied the eastern half of the bridge. The streetcar line was abandoned in July 1985, when the streetcars were diverted to the Panhandle Bridge, the former streetcar right-of-way was then converted into a paved roadway for northbound traffic. The bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 21,1974, two years later, on May 11,1976, it was designated a National Historic Landmark. The bridges short clearance from the river as well as its deteriorated condition convinced PennDOT officials to demolish the bridge, lobbying by Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation on the merits of preserving the bridge were considered by officials. In 1994–1995 the bridge was rehabilitated with a new deck, a paint scheme. The abandoned rail lines became a traffic lane and there was an addition of a light-controlled bus lane which is activated during peak traffic hours. The bridge also has the distinction of being the most heavily walked pedestrian bridge, the bridge connects Smithfield Street in Downtown Pittsburgh with Station Square. The bridge is featured in the 1993 Bruce Willis film Striking Distance, the scene of the 1983 film Flashdance
11.
Three Sisters (Pittsburgh)
–
The Three Sisters are three very similar self-anchored suspension bridges spanning the Allegheny River in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at 6th, 7th, and 9th streets, generally running north/south. Their construction was mandated by the War Department, citing navigable river clearance concerns and they are constructed of steel, and use steel eyebars in lieu of cables. The Three Sisters are historically significant because they are the trio of nearly identical bridges, as well as the first self-anchored suspension spans. They are among the surviving examples of large eyebar chain suspension bridges in America. The bridges’ design was viewed as a response to the political, commercial. The American Bridge Company built the superstructure, while the Foundation Company built the substructure, all three bridges are owned by Allegheny County. From 1926 through 1931, four bridges were constructed across the Allegheny. The fourth bridge is a cable bridge carrying South Tenth Street across the Monongahela. The Three Sisters Bridges represent an adaptive engineering design response to political and technical concerns and they were the first self-anchored suspension bridges built in the United States. The design’s deck- stiffening girder provided compressive support while lowering visual barriers between Pittsburgh and the historically distinct North side, annexed in 1907 in a contentious fight, local election campaigns during the period highlighted the intent to use local suppliers and labour. A suspension bridge works by hanging a roadway from cables or chains under tension, though a few unstiffened suspension bridges exist, a longitudinal stiffening truss or girder is usually added to prevent excessive movement of the deck. The cables pass over towers and are anchored at both ends, conventional suspension bridges use massive concrete or rock anchorages to resist the cable’s tension. In self-anchored suspension bridges, however, the cables are fastened to both ends of the longitudinal girders and these girders are therefore compression struts in addition to stiffening the roadway. While current wisdom holds them to be the latter, the erection procedure shows how each bridge was built in halves toward the center, temporary diagonal struts between chain and deck provided shear resistance turning each incomplete half into a trussed cantilever arm. These struts freed themselves when the halves were jacked together and connected to form a suspension bridge and these restrictions governed minimum span widths over channels and minimum clearances. The previous bridges were all owned by companies established to build bridges. Some controversy ensued around whether public entities could take bridges or bridge rights of way away from private companies if the companies had retired their construction loans. Several of the companies in the area were paying 15% dividends yearly to stock holders as the bridges were quite profitable, even with tolls at 1 cent per man and free for women
