# Rachel Carson Bridge > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Rachel_Carson_Bridge > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Rachel_Carson_Bridge.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_Carson_Bridge > Source revision: 1329626633 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) The **Rachel Carson Bridge**, also known as the **Ninth Street Bridge**, spans the [Allegheny River](/source/Allegheny_River) in [Downtown](/source/Downtown_Pittsburgh) [Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania](/source/Pittsburgh,_Pennsylvania) in the [United States](/source/United_States). Named for the naturalist and author [Rachel Carson](/source/Rachel_Carson), a Pittsburgh native, it is one of three parallel bridges called the [Three Sisters](/source/Three_Sisters_(Pittsburgh)), the others being the [Roberto Clemente Bridge](/source/Roberto_Clemente_Bridge) and the [Andy Warhol Bridge](/source/Andy_Warhol_Bridge). The Three Sisters are [self-anchored suspension bridges](/source/Self-anchored_suspension_bridge) and are significant because they are the only trio of nearly identical bridges—as well as the first self-anchored suspension spans—built in the United States. All three bridges were built by the [American Bridge Company](/source/American_Bridge_Company).[4] The total length of the Rachel Carson Bridge is 840 feet (260 m) including the 410-foot (120-metre) main span and two 215-foot (66-metre) side spans, or 995 feet (303 m) including the approaches. The total width of the deck is 62 feet (19 m), including the 38-foot (12-metre) roadway plus two 10-foot (3.0-metre) sidewalks outside the compressive plate girder. Whereas the roadway formerly carried two vehicle lanes and two streetcar tracks, it was changed to carry four wide vehicle lanes. The 2019-2020 refurbishment reduced the lanes to three. ## History The Rachel Carson Bridge was dedicated and opened during a noontime ceremony with Commissioner Babcock, Mayor Kline, and city council members including Herron and McArdle in attendance. The cost of construction was $1.46 million or $ in terms.[5] The bridge was renamed on [Earth Day](/source/Earth_Day), April 22, 2006, after years of lobbying by Esther Barazzone, president of [Chatham University](/source/Chatham_University), the [alma mater](/source/Alma_mater) of the renowned [environmentalist](/source/Environmentalist). Carson was born in 1907 in [Springdale, Pennsylvania](/source/Springdale,_Pennsylvania), in a farmhouse 18 miles (29 km) up the Allegheny River, now the [Rachel Carson Homestead](/source/Rachel_Carson_Homestead).[6] On February 11, 2019, the bridge was closed to vehicles and pedestrians for a comprehensive rehabilitation project. The bridge was expected to remain closed until at least June 2020. Traffic was detoured over either the [Andy Warhol Bridge](/source/Andy_Warhol_Bridge) or the [Roberto Clemente Bridge](/source/Roberto_Clemente_Bridge), both of which run parallel and are less than 1/2 mile away from the Rachel Carson Bridge.[7][8] The bridge reopened in November 2020 after the completion of a $23.3 million rehabilitation project. It was reconfigured from four lanes to three with the middle lane switching directions midway.[9] ## See also - [List of bridges documented by the Historic American Engineering Record in Pennsylvania](/source/List_of_bridges_documented_by_the_Historic_American_Engineering_Record_in_Pennsylvania) - [List of crossings of the Allegheny River](/source/List_of_crossings_of_the_Allegheny_River) ## References 1. Martin Aurand (May 1985). [*National Register of Historic Places Registration: Pennsylvania MPS Ninth Street Bridge*](https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71992230) (none). National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved December 8, 2025. () 1. [*Historic Landmark Plaques 1968-2009*](http://www.phlf.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/Historic-Plaques-2010b.pdf). Pittsburgh, PA: Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation. 2010. Retrieved 2024-01-04. 1. Belko, Mark (2020-10-02). ["A ‘natural fit’: American Bridge Co. acquired by Texas-based infrastructure giant"](https://www.post-gazette.com/business/development/2020/10/02/American-Bridge-Company-sale-Southland-Holdings-Coraopolis-Grapevine-Texas/stories/202010010172). *Pittsburgh Post-Gazette*. Retrieved 2020-03-16. 1. ["New Ninth St. Bridge Opens"](https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=zUobAAAAIBAJ&sjid=IkoEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3620%2C189807). *The Pittsburgh Press*. November 26, 1926. Retrieved November 26, 2014. 1. *Sherman, Jerome L. (April 23, 2006). ["Environmentalist Rachel Carson's Legacy Remembered on Earth Day"](http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06113/684423-85.stm). *Pittsburgh Post-Gazette*. Retrieved November 26, 2014. 1. ["Pittsburgh's Rachel Carson Bridge (9th St. Bridge) will be CLOSED for construction until Summer 2020, then reopen with fewer lanes of traffic"](https://www.wtae.com/article/rachel-carson-bridge-ninth-street-bridge-closed-for-construction-pittsburgh-north-shore/26065507). *WTAE*. 28 January 2019. 1. ["Pittsburgh's Rachel Carson Bridge closing in February for more than a year - TribLIVE.com"](https://triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-allegheny/pittsburghs-rachel-carson-bridge-closing-in-february-for-more-than-a-year/). *triblive.com*. 28 January 2019. 1. Harrop, JoAnne Klimovich (November 23, 2020). ["Rachel Carson Bridge reopens in Pittsburgh after lengthy closure"](https://triblive.com/local/rachel-carson-bridge-reopens-in-pittsburgh-after-lengthy-closure/). *TribLIVE.com* ## External links - [entry](http://pghbridges.com/pittsburghW/0584-4477/ninth_st_br.htm) at pghbridges.com - [entry](http://www.bridgemeister.com/bridge.php?bid=150) at BridgeMeister.com --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Rachel Carson Bridge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_Carson_Bridge) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_Carson_Bridge?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.