Location: Underneath the South Tenth Street Bridge

Featured guests: Mike Burdelsky, assistant deputy director of public works for Allegheny County

3 things that surprised me:

1. Mike opened a set of metal doors underneath one of the feet of the Tenth Street Bridge and led me into the secret room. This room is home to the bridge’s dehumidification system. The bridge was built in the 1930s, and Allegheny County installed this system a few years back to further extend the bridge’s life.

2. The Tenth Street Bridge is a cable suspension bridge — the only one of its kind in the county — and Mike’s focus is on keeping those cables in good shape. Each cable is made of thin strands strung back and forth across the river thousands of times. Mike estimates that equates to about 2,500 miles of cable.

3. Mike led me to a room where we could see all the bridge cables anchored into I-bars that are cast into the concrete foundation. Once these cables get to bridge level, they’re covered in a neoprene coating to keep moisture out. The dehumidification machinery works to further push out any moisture in the neoprene-covered cables.

One thing that didn’t make the final cut: This is such a precise system that just opening the doors to the dehumidification control room caused the humidity level to increase by a few percentage points. Mike assured me that within an hour or so of us leaving, the humidity would return to its normal level.

Additional info: This isn’t our first meeting with Mike. You can watch us put on hard hats and walk on a temporary suspension bridge underneath the Roberto Clemente Bridge here.

Want more Yinzer Backstage Pass? Check out our visit to the 140-year-old Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children.

Boaz is the host of NEXTpittsburgh's Yinzer Backstage Pass video series. He is also an author, filmmaker, advertising copywriter, teacher, experiential storyteller, talk show host, gardener, kazoo museum curator and so much more.