It took seconds for Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge to collapse into Baltimore’s Patapsco River early Tuesday after it was struck by a cargo ship.
However, it took five years to build the 1.6-mile-long bridge in the 1970s, with a significant part of that process starting in the Pittsburgh area.
The former Pittsburgh-Des Moines Steel Co., which operated on Neville Island, created the steel for the massive span, making it one of the longest continuous-truss bridges ever built. The company also acted as a general contractor for the bridge project.
The Key Bridge was the second-longest continuous truss bridge globally upon opening. At the time of its collapse, it ranked as the second-longest such bridge in the U.S. and third in the world, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers.
Following the bridge's $60.3 million debut on March 23, 1977, it was honored the next year by the Chicago-based American Institute of Steel Construction as a top design among U.S. bridges exceeding 400 feet in length. The central span alone measured slightly over 1,200 feet long.
AISC President Charles Carter praised the project, stating, “This was an impressive design and construction project for its time.It represented the peak of technology and capability at the time.
“The truss forms an arch and continues over the supports for the adjacent spans. This means all of those spans work together, increasing efficiency by spreading the load across the entire bridge.”
Carter added, “This resulted in a very efficient and feasible design. In some respects, it made the bridge possible. It could have been done with an individual truss for each span, but that would have required a lot more material and labor, making it more costly.”
Strong demands
Constructed for the Maryland Transportation Authority, the four-lane bridge stood 185 feet above the water and was crossed by 30,000 vehicles daily, according to the Associated Press reported.
As noted on the website roadstothefuture.com, Engineering News-Record magazine reported in 1972 that Pittsburgh-Des Moines submitted a low bid of $30.7 million for the superstructure on all of the bridge’s spans, a figure that was 5% above the engineer’s estimate.
Kent Harries, a professor in the University of Pittsburgh’s Swanson School of Engineering, mentioned that structural steel used in bridges, due to its direct exposure to weathering, usually must meet more rigorous requirements than that used inside buildings.
He mentioned, “Steel structures, when properly maintained, should last indefinitely from a practical standpoint.”
A construction crew was filling potholes on the bridge when it collapsed. Divers recovered the bodies of two of six workers who fell into the water. The others were presumed dead.
The bridge was named after the author of the national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Historians believe the bridge was not far from the location in Baltimore’s harbor where Francis Scott Key, an attorney, was inspired to write the song’s lyrics as he watched the failed British bombardment of Fort McHenry during the War of 1812. KeyOther undertakings
Pittsburgh-Des Moines was involved in other significant projects, supplying steel for the original World Trade Center and for the St. Louis
, which the company also built. Gateway ArchThe steel arch rises 630 feet above the banks of the Mississippi River, with its legs spaced apart by a similar distance. It cost approximately $13 million to build in the mid-1960s, according to the National Park Service.
The outer skin, weighing almost 900 tons, and the inner skin, weighing over 2,000 tons, were made in parts and connected at the Pittsburgh-area and Warren plants of Pittsburgh-Des Moines. Specially designed creeper cranes climbed up the partially finished legs of the arch to lift additional sections into position.
Visitors can take a tram ride to the top of the arch.
A smaller version
monument in Starbrick, Warren County, commemorates the contribution of boilermakers at the former PDM plant in Warren who helped to create steel for the St. Louis landmark. The marker at the Pennsylvania site notes that around 280 men worked at the Warren plant from 1962 to 1965, cutting, fabricating, and welding steel pieces for the arch’s exoskeleton. Baby Arch The marker states: "Each part had to be precisely measured, cut, and ground to within 1/64th of an inch to ensure they would fit together perfectly with the other segments to form the Arch." The steel was transported by rail and truck 700 miles to St. Louis.
In the 1930s New Deal era, Pittsburgh-Des Moines completed several tall water towers to serve communities in Arkansas, including Cotton Plant, De Valls Bluff, and Mineral Springs. All are now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, as noted by livingnewdeal.org, a program of the Department of Geography at the University of California at Berkeley.
livingnewdeal.org , a program of the Department of Geography at the University of California at Berkeley.‘Good business’
John T. Jackson founded the steel company in Des Moines in 1892 and relocated it to Neville Island in 1903.
“At that time, Pittsburgh was the leading steelmaker in the country, and if your company was located within 50 miles of the steel mills of Pittsburgh, you didn’t have to pay freight charges,” explained W. Richard Jackson, grandson of the company’s founder, in 2003. “That’s when my grandfather decided that moving to Pittsburgh was good business.”
in 2003. “That’s when my grandfather decided that moving to Pittsburgh was good business.” TribLive W. Richard Jackson was the third generation of the family to run the company before it was sold. The company was acquired by Reliance Steel and Aluminum Co. in 2001.
Los Angeles Times
The reported at the time that Pitt-Des Moines had seven distribution centers in California, Nevada, Utah, Washington, and Iowa and had posted sales of $216 million in 2000. Today, the PDM Steel subsidiary of Reliance offers steel products and processing and is headquartered in Elk Grove, Calif., with additional locations in California, Nevada, Colorado, Utah, and Washington state, according to its
Today, the PDM Steel subsidiary of Reliance offers steel products and processing and is headquartered in Elk Grove, Calif., with additional locations in California, Nevada, Colorado, Utah and Washington state, according to its website.
