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.
History
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.[3]
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.[4] 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.[5]
