{"id":22,"date":"2014-12-05T03:01:17","date_gmt":"2014-12-05T03:01:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/?p=22"},"modified":"2015-02-11T15:27:39","modified_gmt":"2015-02-11T20:27:39","slug":"dec-10-1969-three-rivers-stadiums-steel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/12\/05\/dec-10-1969-three-rivers-stadiums-steel\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Rivers Stadium\u2019s steel"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Dec. <\/a>
Dec. 10, 1969: As the U.S. Steel headquarters rises behind it, the final C frame is lifted into place. (Harry Coughanour\/Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Jan. <\/a>
Jan. 18, 1964: The North Side before its redevelopment as a sports destination. (Don Bindyke\/Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div>
\"April <\/a>
April 20, 1969: The structure begins to rise. (The Pittsburgh Press) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"June <\/a>
June 17, 1969: A barge load of C frames docks at the confluence of the Allegheny and Ohio rivers near the construction site. (Ross Catanza\/The Pittsburgh Press) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"May <\/a>
May 1969: The first of 68 gigantic C frames was lifted into place by a traveling crane that U.S. Steel built specially for the job. (Harry Coughanour\/Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

Forty-five years ago this week, if you stood about where Heinz Field\u2019s north endzone seats are and looked toward Downtown Pittsburgh, you would have had a striking view.<\/p>\n

In the foreground, a crane operator placed the last of 65 \u201cC\u201d frames.<\/p>\n

Behind it, you could see U.S. Steel\u2019s headquarters, rising to dominate the city skyline like no building before or since.<\/p>\n

A symbolic juxtaposition, and it was thoroughly Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n

The parts for those steel frames were manufactured at the vaunted Homestead Works. They were shipped down the river to Neville Island, where the Pittsburgh Des-Moines Steel Company\u2019s assembly shop put the frames together.<\/p>\n

They were forty-seven feet high.<\/p>\n

They were 43 tons each.<\/p>\n

And they were sent on barges \u2014 400 tons at a time \u2014 from Neville Island up the Ohio River to the North Side construction site.<\/p>\n

(And they came down in a heap in 2001, along with the concrete that ended up in places like Leetsdale and the Braddock Dam<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Construction often ran\u00a0behind schedule, and there were few Pirates and Steeler fans who truly loved Three Rivers Stadium\u2019s design during its 30-year existence.<\/p>\n

But if you look back at the era and what went into its making, it\u2019s difficult not to pause at the work that made Pittsburgh\u2019s finest steel and concrete donut<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On the materials that went into Three Rivers Stadium: where it all came from, and where it is today.<\/p>\n

Look at the picturesThree Rivers Stadium\u2019s steel<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":23,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[944],"tags":[962,969,1188,976,988,1168,1057,1017,1027,1030,1040,1047,1165],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/tumblr_ng2y1lF6Zx1rr5swxo3_1280.jpg?fit=1280%2C930&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":419,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/07\/28\/pittsburgh-ballet-theatre-takes-to-the-streets\/","url_meta":{"origin":22,"position":0},"title":"Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre takes to the streets","date":"July 28, 2014","format":"gallery","excerpt":"These six photos stood out because of the settings.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/tumblr_n9ci2dtIFK1rr5swxo6_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C935&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2306,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2012\/11\/08\/smoke-steel-bridges-and-rivers-of-pittsburgh\/","url_meta":{"origin":22,"position":1},"title":"Smoke, steel bridges and rivers of Pittsburgh","date":"November 8, 2012","format":"gallery","excerpt":"The picture was made during a race between two steamboats, the William Larimer Jones and the Homestead.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/tumblr_md54teP4xb1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C968&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":472,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/07\/11\/brady-street-bridge-blowup\/","url_meta":{"origin":22,"position":2},"title":"Brady Street Bridge blowup","date":"July 11, 2014","format":"gallery","excerpt":"In 1963, PennDOT announced plans for a replacement. So what happened during the next 10 years? Bureaucracy.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/tumblr_n8i5k0L2ss1rr5swxo4_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1878,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/04\/15\/pittsburgh-at-night\/","url_meta":{"origin":22,"position":3},"title":"Pittsburgh at Night","date":"April 15, 2013","format":"gallery","excerpt":"By night, Pittsburgh has always been spectacular.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/tumblr_ml25ckGcNg1rr5swxo5_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C954&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2138,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/01\/16\/homestead-works-4-oclock-shift\/","url_meta":{"origin":22,"position":4},"title":"Homestead Works 4\u00a0o\u2019clock shift","date":"January 16, 2013","format":"gallery","excerpt":"This photo, found in our archives, shows men leaving the Homestead Works after their shift.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/tumblr_mgovntnrRE1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C578&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2233,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2012\/12\/04\/fog-on-pittsburgh\/","url_meta":{"origin":22,"position":5},"title":"Fog on Pittsburgh","date":"December 4, 2012","format":"gallery","excerpt":"A striking image by photographer Clyde Hare.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/tumblr_meex1r2bJQ1rr5swxo1_400.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4232,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22\/revisions\/4232"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}