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OH-8 High Level Bridge Bridge

OH-8 High Level Bridge Bridge

Primary Photographer(s): Nathan Holth

Bridge Documented: August 24, 2019

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Facility Carried / Feature Intersected
OH-8 and OH-59 Over Little Cuyahoga River, Railroad, and North Street
Location
Akron: Summit County, Ohio: United States
Structure Type
Metal Continuous 10 Panel Rivet-Connected Pratt Deck Truss, Fixed and Approach Spans: Metal Deck Girder, Fixed
Construction Date and Builder / Engineer
1953 By Builder/Contractor: Mount Vernon Bridge Company of Mount Vernon, Ohio and Engineer/Design: Wilbur J. Watson and Associates of Cleveland, Ohio
Rehabilitation Date
1987
Main Span Length
360.0 Feet (109.7 Meters)
Structure Length
1,583.0 Feet (482.5 Meters)
Roadway Width
80 Feet (24.38 Meters)
Spans
3 Main Span(s) and 5 Approach Span(s)
Inventory Number
7700369

Historic Significance Rating (HSR)
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Bridge Documentation

This bridge's future is at risk!

Bridge Status: Slated for demolition and replacement, with ground broken in August 2023!

This is a massive, high level deck continuous truss bridge. It is a visually impressive structure noted for its size and complex truss design. Sadly, Ohio refuses to rehabilitate this bridge and plans to demolish and replace the bridge. Words cannot describe how ugly the replacement bridge will be: it will look like a large slab of concrete, a hideous scar on the landscape. A rendering is visible on this news article.

View Archived National Bridge Inventory Report - Has Additional Details and Evaluation

Information and Findings From Ohio's Historic Bridge Inventory

Setting/Context

The high level viaduct carries 6 lanes of traffic and sidewalks over a railroad, local street, river, and related valley north of downtown Akron. SR 8 does not maintain integrity of original design.

Physical Description

The main span of the massive, 8 span, 1,588' long bridge is a 3 span continuous cantilever design Pratt deck truss span with approximately 210'-480'-210' span lengths. Truss members are built up box sections. The bridge is basically the 1948, 3 span, 900'-long, High Level Bridge over the Cuyahoga River extended with girder-floorbeam approach spans on both ends. The south approach spans have been widened by the placement of stringers. All spans are finished with welded pipe railings. The bridge is large, but it has no innovative or distinctive details save for its massing.

Summary of Significance

The cantilevered deck truss bridge with its pinned connected suspended section in the main span was placed by Summit County in 1953, and it is the second of two similar cantilever deck arch bridges designed by Wilbur Watson & Associates for the county in the post-World War II era. The bridge has no innovative or distinctive details, and it is a later example of a bridge type and design that have been used since the late 19th century. This example is not historically or technologically significant. Although the bridge is large, that is a characteristic common to cantilever-design bridges. There are similarly detailed, cantilevered deck truss bridges with suspended section for highway applications dating to at 13 years before this one was constructed. Old SR 8 over the Cuyahoga River at Akron (SFN #7730306) was designed by Wilbur Watson & Associates and placed in 1947-48. That bridge has been determined to be select/eligible. That same design was largely reused in 1953 for this bridge, which is longer because of the approach spans. The 1939 cantilevered deck truss SR 2 (Main Avenue) bridge over the Cuyahoga River at Cleveland (SFN #1800035), also designed by Wilbur Watson & Associates, was determined to be in the reserve pool. It was built as part of the historically significant Shoreway, the most important, pre-1956 urban expressway in the state. Additionally, examples were built in Washington County in 1930 and Morgan County in 1931, but both have been removed.

Bridge Considered Historic By Survey: No

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Photo Galleries and Videos: OH-8 High Level Bridge Bridge

 

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Maps and Links: OH-8 High Level Bridge Bridge

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Bridgehunter.com: View listed bridges within 0.5 miles (0.8 kilometers) of this bridge.

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HistoricBridges.org Bridge Browser: View listed bridges within 10 miles (16 kilometers) of this bridge.

2021 National Bridge Inventory: View listed bridges within 0.5 miles (0.8 kilometers) of this bridge.

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