Rochester–Monaca Bridge

Monaca–Rochester Bridge
Coordinates
Carries	2 lanes of PA 18
Crosses	Ohio River
Locale	Monaca, Pennsylvania, Rochester, Pennsylvania
Characteristics
Design	Steel continuous truss bridge
Longest span	780 feet (240 m)
Clearance below	69 feet (21 m)
History
Opened	1896, 1930, 1986

The Monaca–Rochester Bridge is a steel through continuous truss bridge which crosses the Ohio River between Monaca, Pennsylvania and Rochester, Pennsylvania. It opened in 1986 and is the third bridge to occupy the site. It replaced a 1930 steel truss cantilever bridge which itself replaced a suspension bridge built in 1896.

File:Rochester-Monaca Bridge 1914.jpg

1914 postcard photo of the original Monaca-Rochester suspension bridge.

File:Rochester-Monaca Bridge pt 2.jpg

The Rochester approach to the bridge.

Naming tradition

The bridge is also called the Rochester–Monaca Bridge. From 1987 to 2009, the bridge was named each year in honor of the winner of the Rochester vs. Monaca high school football game. In 1988, the Rochester Manager Ed Piroli and Monaca Manager Tom Stoner made a bet signed with a handshake that gave the naming rights of the bridge to the winning team of that year. With Monaca High School's merger into Central Valley High School, the 2009 game was the final game to determine naming rights. By winning the 2009 game, the bridge will be known as the Rochester–Monaca Bridge through the end of the school year. After that, it will be called the Rochester–Monaca Bridge on the Rochester side, and the Monaca-Rochester Bridge on the Monaca side. Both towns' police departments respond to incidents on the bridge, with the incident location on the bridge deciding which town takes charge of incident.

See also

• List of crossings of the Ohio River

External links

• Postcard images of the first two bridges
• 1930 essay commemorating the suspension bridge
• Rochester-Monaca Bridge at Bridges & Tunnels
• Rochester-Monaca Bridge at Structurae