The Bridge - Bethlehem, PA, USA - Abstract Public Sculptures on Waymarking.com

Bethlehem, PA was the home to Bethlehem Steel. Beth Steel's steel was used to build much of the USA in the first half of the 1900s. This includes any buildings that use steel as a support material (structural steel), such as skyscrapers. Another use was to provide support to bridges. The Sculpture "The Bridge" is a cantilever design that pays homage to cantilever bridges.

ArtsQuest (a local nonprofit) was created to transform the Bethlehem Steel plant campus into a center for arts and culture. In 2010, ArtsQuest turned their attention to the redevelopment of a plaza area called the Town Square. Knowing they needed an iconic piece of artwork that could help activate the new space, they hired Scranton, Pennsylvania, artist Elena Colombo to create "The Bridge," a site specific sculpture located at the base of the iconic industrial blast furnaces that represented the history and spirit of the community. Elena Colombo was known to work combining fire and steel.

The sculpture itself is a 30-foot-high, 70-foot-long, 10-foot-wide arching steel bridge with a natural gas-fed blue flame. The 35-ton sculpture is supported by I-beams such as those produced at Bethlehem Steel (American steel was used) and includes dozens of panels, each of which will be embossed with the name of a bridge, building or project that used Bethlehem steel. The sculpture is pointed in the direction of the machinery that once produced steel that went into some of the most famous structures across the world, including the Golden Gate Bridge and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Title: The Bridge Artist: Elena Colombo Media (materials) used: Steel Location (specific park, transit center, library, etc.): Park/Public Square Date of creation or placement: 2010

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