There are 11,000 stories behind the “love locks” attached to the metal mesh side panels on the Roberto Clemente Bridge.
But most of them will remain a mystery to the crews from Mosites Construction and Development Co. who began using grinders and bolt cutters to remove them in the snow Wednesday.
The locks have been attached to the bridge over the years, often by couples locking their hearts together forever by closing a padlock and tossing the key in the Allegheny River. But that tradition is only part of the collection that would be a locksmith’s dream: combination locks in a variety of funky colors, some with a dial and others with three rows of numbers to roll into place; heart-shaped locks of various sizes with a keyhole on the face like a treasure chest; bicycle chains wound around the mesh.
Mosites is removing the locks as part of Allegheny County’s $34.4 million rehabilitation of the third of the Three Sisters bridges that cross the Allegheny River within blocks of each other between Downton Pittsburgh and the North Shore. The locks will have a new story to tell since they will be donated to the Industrial Arts Workshop of Hazelwood, where middle school students will use them to create public art as they learn welding skills.
Many of the locks are blank, completely keeping them a mostly private affair. Some contain at least some clues about their story.
Tom and Pam dated their padlock 10-22-88, but the side panels were installed in 2000, so maybe it’s the day they met or their wedding day. Tim and Diane used a red, heart-shaped lock. R & A dated their lock 2021 and G & K scratched a red heart in the surface of theirs, but maybe they didn’t use their first names because weren’t really ready to let the world know they were together.
Hobo & Goofball? Who knows?
Rather than a single lock, some are several locks with the shafts intertwined. Others have to do with a love of sports rather than an individual: The Predato family has 13 small locks side by side marked with the scores of Steelers games, most of them victories.
Stephen Shanley, county public works director, said the bridge will be closed for another 18 months to repair the structural steel and concrete/masonry substructure and the steps to the riverbank on the Downtown side; replace the concrete deck, sidewalks, expansion dams, electric and gas utility lines and delineator posts used to separate bicycle lanes; refurbish pylons; paint the bridge and handrails in Aztec gold; and restore lights to their 1920s appearance.
The bridge, named for the Pirates Hall-of-Fame right fielder, has its own story as part of the only set of three identical bridges built within four blocks of each other. The Clemente, Rachel Carson and Andy Warhol bridges, built in the 1920s, are historically significant as the first to be self-anchored rather than anchored to the ground or abutments and because they use eye-bar chains rather than cables for suspension.
Mr. Shanley said he wishes visitors wouldn’t put the metal graffiti on the bridge again because it can chip paint and cause damage. In 2014, part of the Pont des Arts pedestrian bridge in Paris collapsed from the weight of love locks.
Still, even he wonders about the locks.
“Oh, sure,” he said. “Every one of them have a story.”
Tim Kaulen, executive director of the arts workshop, said he feels a “great responsibility” for the future of the locks. Students will choose the designs for reusing the locks.
“The locks will have another story to tell,” he said.
Ed Blazina: eblazina@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1470 or on Twitter @EdBlazina.
First Published: March 9, 2022, 8:52 p.m.
