South Tenth Street Bridge
Why it's listed
Steel wire-cable suspension bridge carrying four lanes across the Monongahela River at the narrowest point of the river through Pittsburgh, linking the South Side with a narrow riverfront strip below The Bluff. Completed in 1931-32 under the Allegheny County Department of Public Works, which had launched an extensive bridge and highway program in 1924 funded by large bond issues. The central span is 725 feet, the width of the river at the site. Openwork steel towers with tapering uprights and a crossing-girder frieze give the bridge its Moderne character. The deck originally carried trolleys as well as other traffic, and walkways with decorative metalwork railings bow outward around the tower uprights. Vernon R. Covell, the county's chief engineer, is generally credited with the design, and County Architect Stanley Roush contributed to it. The bridge is regarded as the county's only wire-cable suspension bridge and is significant for its role in transportation and its place in the county's bridge-building campaign.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the bridge is significant for its transportation role at its site, as a product of a period of intensive bridge-building by Allegheny County, and as the county's only wire-cable suspension bridge. Its Moderne towers and visual lightness are also cited. It is part of the Allegheny County Owned River Bridges thematic group.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 86000020, listed January 7, 1986. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | Monongahela River at S. Tenth St., Pittsburgh |
|---|---|
| County | Allegheny County |
| Listed | January 7, 1986 |
| Reference number | 86000020 |
| Resource type | Structure |
| Period of significance | 1921-1940 |
| Architect / builder | Vernon R. Covell et al. (engineer); Stanley Roush (architect); American Bridge Co. (contractor) |
| Architectural style | Moderne |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Transportation, Politics/Government, Architecture |
| Level of significance | National |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Condition recorded as good on the form; in use for vehicular traffic as a bridge. |
| Acreage | 2.4 |
| Coordinates | 40.43247, -79.98942 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
For a publicly owned building or structure, listing mainly matters when federal funds, permits or licences are involved: projects then go through Section 106 review so effects on the property are considered. Listing also strengthens applications for preservation grants and, for leased income-producing uses, can enable the federal rehabilitation tax credit.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 86000020.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q7568623
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.