Smithton High-Level Bridge

Smithton High-Level Bridge
File:Smithtoni70bridge.jpg Peeking out from between the trees along the Yough River Trail.
Carries	I-70
Crosses	Youghiogheny River
Locale	South Huntingdon Township and Rostraver Township
Characteristics
Design	truss bridge
Total length	1355 ft
Width	64 ft
History
Opened	1956

The Smithton High-Level Bridge is a structure that crosses the Youghiogheny River between South Huntingdon Township and Rostraver Township.

The bridge was opened in 1956 as one of the last links in the replacement of the old alignment of Pennsylvania Route 71 with a new four-lane freeway between Washington and the Pennsylvania Turnpike. During the same year of the bridge's completion, it was announced that the highway would become part of Interstate 70; it took on this designation in 1964 after the completion of freeway stretches in neighboring West Virginia linked PA 71 to a similar freeway in Ohio.

Part of a busy truck route, the bridge is part of a highway that has been plagued by surface problems. In 1989, a crack in the superstructure, the result of a 35-year-old construction error, forced the closure of the bridge for five days, stranding truckers. The bridge was rehabilitated in 2000.

References

PA Highways: I-70 National Bridges