Wissahickon Memorial Bridge

The Wissahickon Memorial Bridge, originally called and still also known as the Henry Avenue Bridge, is a stone and concrete bridge that carries Henry Avenue over Wissahickon Creek and Lincoln Drive in Fairmount Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Wissahickon Memorial Bridge
Coordinates	40°01′26″N 75°11′46″W
Crosses	Wissahickon Creek
Locale	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Maintained by	City of Philadelphia
Characteristics
Total length	333 feet (101 m)
Width	60 feet (18 m)
Height	170 feet (52 m)
Longest span	288 feet (88 m)
History
Construction cost	$1,648,775
Opened	May 1932
Wissahickon Memorial Bridge
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Philadelphia Register of Historic Places
Location	Henry Avenue over Wissahickon Creek and Lincoln Drive Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Coordinates	40°1′27″N 75°11′46″W
Built	1931
Architect	Paul Philippe Cret, Ralph Modjeski
MPS	Highway Bridges Owned by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Transportation TR
NRHP reference No.	88000807[1]
Added to NRHP	June 22, 1988
Location

It is a two-ribbed, open-spandrel, reinforced concrete arch bridge with one principal span. It was designed in 1927 by Paul Philippe Cret, a nationally acclaimed Philadelphia architect, in collaboration with Frank M. Masters, engineered by Ralph Modjeski and Clement E. Chase. It was completed in May 1932 at a cost of $1,648,775. It was designed to accommodate a lower deck, never constructed, to be used by trolleys or a subway extension to Roxborough.[2] Shortly after its completion, it was renamed the Wissahickon Memorial Bridge and was dedicated to the people of Philadelphia's northwest neighborhoods who served in World War I.

The bridge is 333 feet long, with a main span of 288 feet. Its 60-ft-wide roadway carries two lanes of traffic in each direction. The roadway is approximately 170 feet above the ground.[3] The bridge was repaved and repaired between 2008 and late 2010.

The bridge has been known as a suicide bridge since its opening. Beginning in 1941 for an unknown duration of time a policeman patrolled the span, questioning all pedestrians walking the bridge.[4]

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. The bridge was featured as a filming location in the 1981 film Blow Out starring John Travolta and directed by Brian De Palma.[5]

See also

• List of bridges documented by the Historic American Engineering Record in Pennsylvania
• Walnut Lane Bridge

References

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
2. Gruen, J. Phillip (August 1997). "Henry Avenue Bridge" (PDF). Historic American Engineering Record. National Park Service. p. 11.
4. "STATION POLICEMAN ON SUICIDE BRIDGE", Painesville Telegraph, December 6, 1941, accessed February 18, 2011.
5. November 26, Ma José Gómez; Pm, 2017 at 3:15. "Blow Out (1981) Filming Locations". The Movie District. Retrieved 2020-08-20.

External links

• Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. PA-464, "Henry Avenue Bridge"
• Chronology and images at Philadelphia Architects and Buildings