Albertus L. Meyers Bridge | |
---|---|
Coordinates | 40°35′47″N 75°28′16″W / 40.5963°N 75.4712°W |
Carries | Two lanes northbound and one lane southbound of 8th Street, from Union Street to Lehigh Street, and two sidewalks |
Crosses | Little Lehigh Creek, Harrison Street, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive |
Locale | Allentown, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
Official name | Albertus L. Meyers Bridge |
Named for | Albertus L. Meyers |
Maintained by | City of Allentown |
Characteristics | |
Design | Reinforced concrete open-spandrel arch |
Total length | 2,650 feet (810 m) |
Width | 45 feet (13.72 m) (deck width) |
Height | 138 feet (42 m) |
Longest span | nine 120-foot (36.58 m) broad arches |
History | |
Opened | November 17, 1913 |
Statistics | |
Daily traffic | 14618[1] |
Toll | Free |
NRHP reference No. | 88000870[2] |
Added to NRHP | June 22, 1988 |
Location | |
The Albertus L. Meyers Bridge, also known as the Eighth Street Bridge, the South Eighth Street Viaduct, and unsigned as SR 2055,[1] is a reinforced concrete open-spandrel arch bridge located in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The bridge is "one of the earliest surviving examples of monumental, reinforced concrete construction," according to the American Society of Civil Engineers.[3]
Upon its opening on November 17, 1913, the bridge, then known as the Eighth Street Bridge, was the longest and highest concrete bridge in the world.[4]
The bridge spans the Little Lehigh Creek, linking Center City Allentown with Allentown's South Side. The bridge has seventeen spans and is longer than the more massive Tunkhannock Viaduct of the same type.
In 1974, the bridge was renamed in honor Albertus L. Meyers, who served as bandmaster of the Allentown Band for 50 years, from 1926 to 1976.