Panther Hollow Bridge - Bridges and Tunnels of Allegheny County and Pittsburgh, PA

View from Panther Hollow Lake

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OFFICIAL NAME:
Panther Hollow Bridge

OTHER DESIGNATION:

LOCATION:
Pittsburgh (Schenley Park)

USGS 7.5" Topo Quad - UTM Coordinates:
Pittsburgh East - Zone 17; 0589 4776

CARRIES:
Schenley Drive, motor vehicles, four lanes

BETWEEN:
--

CROSSES:
-- Panther Hollow; Lake Trail; Panther Hollow Bridle Path; streams

TYPE OF CONSTRUCTION / DESIGN:
three-hinged deck arch

LENGTH OF MAIN SPAN:
360 ft

TOTAL LENGTH (including longest elevated ramp):
620 ft

HEIGHT OF DECK:
120 ft est

YEAR ERECTED / ENGINEER:
1897, Henry B. Rust, City of Pittsburgh

ADDITIONAL INFO:
In 1890, a temporary trestle was constructed across Junction Hollow. The present Schenley Bridge replaced this structure in 1897. One of the original plans was to remove the temporary trestle and re-erect it over Panther Hollow. It has been speculated that the fire which destroyed the Schenley Casino near the temporary bridge was also a factor leading to the erection of a wholly new bridge at Panther Hollow. As built, the Schenley Bridge and the Panther Hollow Bridge are near twins -- built concurrently.

The similarity of the Schenley Bridge over Junction Hollow and the Panther Hollow Bridge adds to the confusion over the names of the hollows each crosses. Aside from the chain-link fences installed on the Schenley Bridge in 1995, the "Panthers" by Giuseppe Moretti (1859-1935) provide the signature which easily distinguishes the pair of structures. A bronze mountain lion stands ready for the hunt at each corner of the Panther Hollow Bridge.

Edward Bigelow, director of Pittsburgh's Department of Public Works, and Arthur Anton Hamerschlag, the first president of Carnegie Institute of Technology (later CMU), provided many commissions to Moretti. These include the Bigelow statue in front of Phipps Conservatory (Bigelow had the unusual honor of attending the dedcation of his own statue), Stephen Foster near the Carnegie on Forbes Av, the sculptures at the entrance to Highland Park and eight other works in Pittsburgh.

FIELD CHECKED:
03-Oct-2000

INFO SOURCES:
Gay and Evert "Discovering Pittsburgh's Sculpture"

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Introduction -- Nearby Structures

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Last modified: 14-Nov-2000

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