Vanport Bridge
Bridge in Vanport Township, Pennsylvania
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Vanport Bridge is a four-lane continuous truss bridge that carries Interstate 376 across the Ohio River in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, United States.
I-376Vanport Bridge | |
|---|---|
 The bridge in 2025 | |
| Coordinates | 40°40′45″N 80°19′53″W |
| Carries | 4 lanes of I-376 |
| Crosses | Ohio River |
| Locale | Vanport Township, Pennsylvania |
| Maintained by | PennDOT |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Continuous truss bridge |
| Longest span | 220 m |
| History | |
| Opened | 1968 |
| Location | |
 Interactive map of Vanport Bridge | |
History and notable features
A total of $10,476,268 was spent on construction of the 1,762-foot bridge over the Ohio River connecting Vanport and Potter townships, which was opened to traffic on December 23, 1968.[1] As a vital part of the Beaver Valley Expressway it was carrying approximately 30,000 vehicles daily in 1990.[2]
In January 1990, the bridge was closed for three days after corrosion and fourteen cracks in welds were discovered during a routine Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) inspection. The cracks ranged in size from seven to thirty-four inches. Damage was located in the bottom truss plate that held the steel box beam in the central span.[3] Passenger traffic was rerouted to the Rochester–Monaca Bridge; trucks — to the Shippingport Bridge. The Vanport Bridge remained restricted to traffic until October 2001, when an out of control apple truck crashed into a crew of carpenters, killing five. It reopened shortly after.[4]
