Mayor Luke Ravenstahl this morning issued a declaration of emergency for the immediate demolition of the Davis Avenue Bridge in Brighton Heights and the coordination of necessary emergency response activities.

A consultant hired by the city recommended the 110-year-old bridge be imploded after determining it is in danger of collapse. Public Safety Director Michael Huss yesterday said notices would be sent to several homeowners on Woods Run Avenue, just beneath the bridge, that they would need to move as quickly as possible.

"The bridge needs to come down, and needs to come down immediately," Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said at a morning news conference.

The emergency declaration "allows us to get in there, to notify the homeowners, to get them out of there" because engineers have determined that debris would fall on those homes if the bridge would collapse. Without the emergency declaration, the project could take six months.

The city plans to stop traffic on a portion of Woods Run Avenue at noon today.

"We're going to do this as quickly as we possibly can, so we have some very reputable firms that we are in communication with to get them out there to evaluate the bridge and then come back to us and make a recommendation as to how quickly they can get this down," the mayor said.

Emergency management officials yesterday surveyed the area and identified four homes that could be in danger -- 771, 806, 804 and 808 Woods Run Ave.

"The Red Cross has also offered assistance in the short-term, and we, the city, will take responsibility longer-term to house the residents that have been displaced," the mayor said.

The consultant also recommended that pedestrian and vehicular traffic be prohibited underneath the bridge, which connects the Brighton Heights neighborhood to Riverview Park and has been closed to vehicular traffic since 2001.

The demolition is expected to cost at least $500,000 and Mr. Ravenstahl said he doubts there is any state or federal money to help pay for the work.

Mr. Ravenstahl said the bridge hasn't been repaired because the city hasn't had the money. He stressed that no one has been endangered while the bridge has been closed because it has been inspected annually. When the latest inspection showed it was in danger of collapse, the city acted promptly to evacuate residents and take steps towards demolition.

"It is the only one in the city, I want to stress right now, that is of that nature. Every other bridge in the city of Pittsburgh is operational, it's safe."

Councilwoman Darlene Harris said the bridge has "been a problem for around nine years now."

In addition to inconvenience, the closed bridge has caused runoff problems for residents underneath it, she said. They use sand bags to prevent water that falls from the bridge from flooding their homes.

The city estimates it would cost $6 million to $8 million to replace the bridge.

More details in tomorrow's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.