Pittsburgh officials considering more extensive repairs on Swindell Bridge

Pittsburgh’s Swindell Bridge, closed briefly for repairs last summer, is scheduled to undergo a more significant rehabilitation.

Legislation before Pittsburgh City Council would award a $1.2 million contract to Pittsburgh-based HDR Engineering to handle preliminary engineering design work, said Emily Bourne, a spokeswoman for the city’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure.

“We’re still super early in the process of rehabbing Swindell Bridge,” she said.

The 1,097-foot-long span, which stretches over the Parkway North on the North Side, is rated in poor condition, according to PennDOT records. It opened in 1930 and is used by about 5,700 vehicles per day, PennDOT records show.

The bridge raised concerns among some residents following the Fern Hollow Bridge collapse in the city’s Frick Park last January. Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey acknowledged worries about the span when he launched his bridge asset management program last year and promised to close the bridge if it became unsafe.

The bridge was closed July 1 after city officials were alerted to debris falling from the bridge to the highway below while crews were performing maintenance work, including milling and some resurfacing.

It reopened to traffic Sept. 1.

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At that time, city officials said an emergency inspection done just after the bridge closed revealed that material used in the resurfacing repairs had accumulated in an expansion joint drainage trough. The added weight from the debris caused the trough to tear and spill onto I-279’s northbound lanes.

Officials said they did not find any additional deterioration or damage, but it was slated for a larger rehabilitation project. The bridge is undergoing routine inspections every six months until then.

The larger rehabilitation project, scheduled to begin in 2027, will include a new deck, a full repainting and other repairs, Bourne said. Officials are still determining the scope of the project, she said.

The contract before City Council “is just for the preliminary engineering to get the process started,” Bourne said.

She said it was too soon to offer an estimate of the project costs, but said federal funding would pay for 80% of the repairs, while the state would chip in 15% — leaving the city responsible for 5% of the costs.

In a comprehensive bridge report commissioned by Gainey and publicly released in December, the Swindell Bridge was rated in poor condition. Its superstructure was rated in serious condition, one step down from poor.