Innerbelt Bridge

The Innerbelt Bridge was a truss arch bridge in Cleveland, Ohio carrying Interstate 90/Innerbelt Freeway over the Cuyahoga River.

Innerbelt Bridge
The Innerbelt Bridge carried traffic over The Flats and the Cuyahoga River (2005)
Coordinates41.4861°N 81.69°W / 41.4861; -81.69
Carries I-90 (Innerbelt Freeway)
CrossesCuyahoga River
US 422 / SR 8 / SR 14 / SR 43 / SR 87 (Ontario Street/Broadway Avenue)

RTA Rapid Transit Red Line

Norfolk Southern Railway
LocaleCleveland, Ohio
OwnerOhio Department of Transportation (ODOT)
Maintained byODOT
Characteristics
DesignCantilever truss arch
MaterialSteel, concrete
Total length4,233 feet (1,290 m)
Width116.25 feet (35.43 m)
No. of spans7
History
Engineering design byHoward, Needles, Tammen and Bergendoff
Construction startDecember 12, 1954
Construction cost$26,066,000
OpenedAugust 15, 1959
ClosedNovember 22, 2013
ReplacesCentral Viaduct
Location
References
[1][2]
On the bridge deck in 2006, looking north

History

The bridge, completed in 1959, was 4,233 feet (1,290 m) in length[1] and 116.25 feet (35.43 m) in width,[2] built as the widest bridge in Ohio. The Innerbelt Bridge replaced the Central Viaduct.[3]

The bridge had been intended to carry Interstate 71,[4] but due to the lack of completion of a highway, carried Interstate 90 instead.

On November 13, 2008, all commercial truck traffic was banned from the bridge because it was deemed structurally insufficient after a review of a computer analysis.[5] This had been rectified by mid-2010.[6]

Replacement

As part of the Innerbelt Freeway rebuild, the bridge was replaced by the George V. Voinovich Bridges.[7] The Innerbelt Bridge was vacated in November 2013 after the completion of the westbound Voinovich bridge, built immediately to the north. Dismantling of the Innerbelt Bridge began January 13, 2014, and five of the nine remaining spans were imploded at dawn on July 12 with the remainder of the structure removed in the following weeks.[8][9][10] The eastbound Voinovich bridge, built in the former location of the Innerbelt Bridge, opened in September 2016.

The Innerbelt Bridge, as seen from downtown Cleveland in 2010

See also

References
  1. "Innerbelt Freeway". Encyclopedia of Cleveland History.
  2. Watson, Sara Ruth; John R. Wolfs (1981). "Chapter 2: The Four Great Viaducts". Bridges of Metropolitan Cleveland. pp. 36–39. Transcription at The Cleveland Memory Project website.
  3. "Central Viaduct". Encyclopedia of Cleveland History.
  4. Ohio Department of Highways. "1957-58 Biennial Report". Retrieved 2013-12-06.
  5. Farkas, Karen (2009-08-27). "3-D imaging set off lane closures, Inner Belt Bridge rehab". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved 2009-08-29.
  6. Farkas, Karen (2010-07-29). "ODOT succeeds in detouring eastbound trucks around Inner Belt Bridge". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved 2010-07-30.
  7. Cleveland's Innerbelt Bridge: Project Overview Archived 2013-11-10 at the Wayback Machine. Innerbelt Plan. Ohio Department of Transportation.
  8. Grant, Alison (2014-01-13). "Old Inner Belt Bridge Steel Skeleton to Be Blown Up in Controlled Demolition". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved 2014-01-15.
  9. "1959 Innerbelt Bridge Went Out With a Bang" (Press release). Ohio Department of Transportation District 12. 2014-07-12. Retrieved 2014-08-13.
  10. Grant, Alison (2014-07-12). "55-year-old Inner Belt Bridge vanishes in a half second". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved 2014-07-12.
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