Project Description
I-579 Urban Open Space Cap
Submitted by the Pittsburgh Section
| Construction Cost | $30,000,000 | |
| Project Location | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | |
| Project Owner | City of Pittsburgh | |
| Project Designer | HDR | |
| Contractor | Fay, S&B USA Construction | |
| Completion Date | November, 2021 |
Project Description
The I-579 Urban Open Space Cap Project is a new, urban three-acre green space that reconnects Pittsburgh’s historic Hill District with the city’s Downtown business and cultural center. This first-of-its-kind project seeks to remedy historical development that harmed the Hill District by reconnecting this predominantly African American neighborhood through a unique land bridge spanning over the interstate.
The new bridge had to “fill the gap” between the two existing vehicular bridges, maintain vertical clearance above the interstate, and carry sufficient soil depth to sustain plantings.
Project Features
- Reducing the deadload on the bridge beams caused by the park’s varied topography and soil depth, using buried geofoam block
- Delivering and placing 126 unique, sloped, adjacent concrete beams in downtown Pittsburgh without long-term closures of I-579 required a 300+ ton crawler crane with specialized rigging.