It was constructed between 1902 and 1904 by railroad magnate George J. Gould for his Wabash Pittsburgh Terminal Railway.

After less than half a century, the Wabash was considered a “hard luck” bridge, haunted by its history, and an eyesore.

[1][2][3] Additional problems plagued the bridge's construction site including a smallpox epidemic, bad weather, and strikes.

When the terminal and warehouses were destroyed by fire in 1946, the bridge became functionally obsolete.

The Wabash Tunnel, which carried the railroad through the hills south of the Monongahela River, sat abandoned for more than 50 years before reopening to one-way auto traffic in 2004.