If you live in the Pittsburgh area, 10 to 1, yo have taken the Highland Park Bridge from one side of the Allegheny River to another. As Aspinwall residents, we take it at least once a day, to get to work, shop, a play date, whatever it may be. And for the longest time, as you crossed the bridge you saw this junk yard, mounds and mounds of broken, mangled steel. It was intense. And then , almost all of a sudden, although I am sure it was not all of a sudden, the steel was gone. What was left was chocolate brown earth and this beautifully preserved huge, long steel structure that loomed underneath the bridge. I have done some research and I still cannot seem to come up with what it was originally, although it is marked the American Bridge Co. and has a US Steel emblem on it too. I am not sure if there was a steel mill in the area, although I am sure there had to be some type of mill in the area as A. most of the communities built on the water were attached to a mill, B. there is a railroad line that runs right up against it and 3. we do live in Pittsburgh so mills were all over the place.
Okay, so...we have been talking about going to see this steel structure before they decide that it is not going to be a good additive to the growing Aspinwall Riverfront Park,. The weather was beautiful, the breeze was lovely, the sun was shining, so we took a short drive, maybe 5 minutes and came upon an opening togo check it out. After a small walk over the tracks, we were under the structure. Little Girl may have been i n heaven. The squeals of delight and finds she found were numerous and contagious. we found so many cool pieces of steel, twisted into odd shapes. everywhere you looked was something interesting in the air. The way the lights hung, banging a hollow clang against the girders was eerily beautiful. The one end had what looked like a movable bridge with what was once a manned electrical station. A large hook still hung, rusted and still.
I continued to snap pictures walking my way down the structure. Big Guy used his drone to try to capture the view from above. Little Girl continued to collect items and create a small pile of "treasures". On the way out we ran into two men who were fishing the river. They didn't catch anything, but we caught a piece of Pittsburgh history that just has a few holes in it. I guess I have my research cut out for me.
Okay, so...we have been talking about going to see this steel structure before they decide that it is not going to be a good additive to the growing Aspinwall Riverfront Park,. The weather was beautiful, the breeze was lovely, the sun was shining, so we took a short drive, maybe 5 minutes and came upon an opening togo check it out. After a small walk over the tracks, we were under the structure. Little Girl may have been i n heaven. The squeals of delight and finds she found were numerous and contagious. we found so many cool pieces of steel, twisted into odd shapes. everywhere you looked was something interesting in the air. The way the lights hung, banging a hollow clang against the girders was eerily beautiful. The one end had what looked like a movable bridge with what was once a manned electrical station. A large hook still hung, rusted and still.
I continued to snap pictures walking my way down the structure. Big Guy used his drone to try to capture the view from above. Little Girl continued to collect items and create a small pile of "treasures". On the way out we ran into two men who were fishing the river. They didn't catch anything, but we caught a piece of Pittsburgh history that just has a few holes in it. I guess I have my research cut out for me.