During one of their initial bicycle rides on the C&O Canal Towpath in Washington, D.C., in the early 1980s, John Surma and his wife, Becky, asked a fellow cyclist how far the trail went.

The man said it went at least as far as Great Falls, Va., and added:

"Some day, they say it's going to go all the way to Pittsburgh."

"Well," a smiling John Surma told more than 100 bike trail enthusiasts gathered yesterday near the Riverton Railroad Bridge in McKeesport, "someday is almost here."

Mr. Surma, 53, chairman and chief executive officer of U.S. Steel Corp., recalled the story as he formally transferred ownership of the bridge to Allegheny County. It will carry the Great Allegheny Passage bike and pedestrian trail 1,200 feet across the Monongahela River between McKeesport and Duquesne.

"A completed Great Allegheny Passage will enhance the quality of life in Western Pennsylvania," Mr. Surma said. "It also will open a new door to visitors from around the world to experience all our region has to offer."

The bridge, which carried railroad traffic as recently as May, once connected the blast furnaces at U.S. Steel's Duquesne Works in Duquesne with its National Tube facility in McKeesport. It was named after a tiny community on the McKeesport side of the river.

Mr. Surma and County Executive Dan Onorato, both bicyclists, have pledged to complete the 150-mile passage from Point State Park to Cumberland, Md., where it joins the 182.5-mile C&O Canal Towpath. The last nine miles to complete are in the county, and all but one-half mile, where Sandcastle is located, are in various stages of completion.

In addition to U.S. Steel, the renovation of the bridge was made possible by $1 million from the Colcom Foundation and $1 million from the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. The Allegheny Regional Asset District provided $500,000 to pave the trail on the McKeesport and Duquesne sides of the bridge.

Tim Inglis, president of the Colcom Foundation, recently rode the 335-mile trail from Washington to Pittsburgh. "We were amazed to meet travelers from locations across the country as well as around the corner," he said.

Linda McKenna Boxx, president of the Allegheny Trail Alliance, the coalition of seven rail-trail organizations building and maintaining the passage, said McKeesport Mayor James Brewster and other Mon Valley officials have seen "the value and excitement that this trail is bringing to their towns." She praised rail-trail volunteers and local, state and federal agencies and contractors for transforming old railroad rights of way into "a world-class trail that will be a source of pride and economic opportunity to the people in the region."

If the weather cooperates, the bridge is scheduled to open Oct. 4 so PNC Legacy Trail Riders coming from Washington can use it en route to Point State Park.