Birmingham Bridge (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)

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This bridge goes from East Carson Street on Southside, to Forbes and Fifth avenues in the hill. If you're driving across this bridge after dark, take care to avoid those who are walking across it.

This bridge nearly collapsed on February 8, 2008 when a section of the superstructure/deck on the north approach fell several inches. The partial collapse was caused by a frozen rocker bearing on the structure support which did not allow the superstructure section to expand/contract. Eventually, the natural expansion/contraction of the superstructure blew out the support bearing and caused the beam to collapse onto the pier cap. The edge of the beam was resting on the cap only 1–2 inches from the edge. If the pier cap would have failed or the beams fallen in a slightly different position, it could have caused significant portions of the structure to collapse. Fortunately, the partial failure occured late at night (3:30 a.m.) when very little traffic was present.