{"nrhp_refnum":"86000019","name":"Ninth Street Bridge","other_names":[],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"Allegheny River at Ninth St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Pittsburgh","county":"Allegheny County","state":"PA","lat":40.44661115900004,"lon":-79.99994078099996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1986-01-07","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Engineering","Transportation","Politics/Government"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"The Ninth Street Bridge is a steel self-anchored eyebar suspension bridge crossing the Allegheny River at Ninth Street, linking downtown Pittsburgh and the North Side. It was erected in 1925-26 by Allegheny County.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the bridge is one of the only important surviving examples of the eyebar suspension bridge in the country and, with the Sixth and Seventh Street Bridges, one of the first self-anchored suspension bridges in the United States. It is also described as the nation's only trio of virtually identical spans, built as part of a large county public works program of the 1920s.","narrative":"Spanning the Allegheny River between downtown Pittsburgh and the North Side, the Ninth Street Bridge is a steel self-anchored eyebar suspension bridge, 995 feet long with a center span of 430 feet. Its two towers stand over stone-faced river piers and carry eyebar catenaries anchored at the shoreline piers, while the deck is stiffened by triple plate girders. The shoreline piers rise as stone pylons topped with lanterns. Built in 1925-26 by Allegheny County during an expanded program of bridge and highway construction, it replaced an earlier structure on the same site that had been ordered removed by the War Department as an obstruction to navigation. Its design is generally attributed to County engineer Vernon R. Covell. The bridge is regarded as one of the few important surviving examples of eyebar suspension construction in the country, and one of the first self-anchored suspension bridges in the United States. It was also one of a trio of nearly identical spans in Pittsburgh.","period_of_significance":"1921-1940","architect_builder":"Vernon R. Covell et al.; Stanley Roush (architect/engineer); The Foundation Co.; American Bridge Co. (builder/contractor)","architectural_style":"Suspension Bridge (self-anchored)","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Condition recorded as good and integrity as excellent on the form.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:34.311043-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/86000019.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86000019/b300e913bf-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86000019/b300e913bf-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Scillystuff at English Wikipedia","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pittsburgh_Ninth_Street_Bridge.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Scillystuff at English Wikipedia</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pittsburgh_Ninth_Street_Bridge.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"13000250","name":"Penn-Liberty Historic District (Boundary Increase)","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/pennsylvania/penn-liberty-historic-district-boundary-increase-13000250/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71992230","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_Carson_Bridge","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7279183"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/allegheny-county/ninth-street-bridge-86000019/"}