Pfc. Ronald "Smokey" Bakewell Memorial Bridge

USA / Pennsylvania / Luzerne /
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Opened at noon on Monday, July 16, 2012, this bridge now links Washington and Fayette Counties via Pennsylvania Turnpike 43, ultimately completing the Brownsville to Uniontown section of the toll road and making nearly 70 continuous miles of highway open from Morgantown, WV to Large, PA.

Originally proposed as a steel bridge, the alternate design of a cast-in-place concrete bridge won the bid for construction, and is similar to the Allegheny River Bridge on the Mainline PA Turnpike. The 3200 foot long structure consists of 7 spans, 6 piers (3 on each side of the river), 7 million pounds of reinforcing steel, and 51,000 cubic yards of concrete. The bridge was designed by FIGG Engineering Group and was constructed by Walsh Construction Company at an estimated cost of $95,169,000.

The bridge is named after Pfc. Ronald "Smokey" Bakewell of Brownsville, an Army infantryman killed in action in the Vietnam War on August 2, 1968 by a North Vietnamese sniper after only 42 days in Vietnam.
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Coordinates:   40°0'15"N   79°55'56"W
This article was last modified 11 years ago