RUSSELL — The Ironton-Russell Bridge was closed Monday evening for a short time and then reopened after being inspected by the Ohio Department of Transportation officials.
The 90-year-old span was shut down around 7 p.m. after a law enforcement officer noticed damage. Part of the bridge deck appeared to have dropped, according to reports.
The ODOT officials were satisfied the bridge was safe for travel and reopened it to traffic around 8:30 p.m.
The aging span, which is scheduled to be replaced, connects Russell with Ironton.
When a new bridge over the Ohio River between Russell and Ironton opens, the existing span will be demolished, according to ODOT plans. The new bridge will connect near the viaduct on U.S. 23. It will come at a cost of $81.2 million.
The existing bridge was built in 1922 to last 50 years or so and is still in service 90 years later. The new bridge has a 100-year life expectancy due in part to construction materials — the two towers that support the cable-stay span will be made of concrete, inherently longer-lasting than steel.
The new span has a three-year building schedule that started this spring with clearing banks on the Kentucky and Ohio sides of the river and building of caissons in which the concrete piers will be poured.
All the approach work should be done by the end of this year, including abutments and most of the piers and 15 percent of the first 300-foot tower will be up.
The next year should see the towers growing higher and the year after that most of the cables will be in place between the towers and the deck.
Completion is expected by the end of 2015 and in 2016 the company will demolish the old bridge.
The bridge will have 8.2 million pounds of steel and nearly 24,395 cubic yards of concrete.
All the approach work should be done by the end of this year, including abutments and most of the piers and 15 percent of the first 300-foot tower will be up.
The next year should see the towers growing higher and the year after that most of the cables will be in place between the towers and the deck.
Completion is expected by the end of 2015 and in 2016 the company will demolish the old bridge.
The bridge will have 8.2 million pounds of steel and nearly 24,395 cubic yards of concrete.
Some civic boosters had said they would like the old span to remain as a pedestrian/bicycle bridge and as a festival and sightseeing venue, but that is an outside chance, according to transportation officials.
Other towns have successfully kept old bridges in service for nonvehicle traffic. Cincinnati’s Purple People Bridge is one. Restored in 2001 by the city of Newport and an economic development group at a cost of $4 million, the bridge now carries pedestrians and sightseers. It is the subject of some controversy after receiving a $650,000 grant from the state of Kentucky toward building a hotel on the span.
There are major obstacles for making the old Ironton-Russell bridge a pedestrian walkway.
One is that no eligible party wants it. When the Ohio Department of Transportation first planned a replacement, the department offered to turn over the old span to the cities of Ironton and Russell. Both cities turned the offer down flat because of expense and liability.
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