The Controlled Explosive Demolition of the old I-90 Innerbelt Bridge took place at 6:00 a.m. on July 12, and attracted crowds to Tremont for a view of the historic event. Barton Schroeder, retired math teacher and local photographic artist said, “We got really lucky. I got here at 5:15 a.m. and there were three people here who wanted a ride down. We parked, but they said, ‘No, you’ve got to move.’ We saw a line of cars and found a spot — right where this picture was taken — I just happened to put a new lens on my camera, and I’m sitting here all ready to go. It went ‘Boom!’” Schroeder snapped his photo in nearly the same instant. Two pieces of Schroeder’s Cleveland icon photo-based artwork are available for sale at Civilization.
by Amanda McFarland
Controlled explosive demolition went off without a hitch this morning
The I-90 Innerbelt Bridge opened to traffic on August 15, 1959 and on Saturday, July 12, the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT), Trumbull-Great Lakes-Ruhlin (TGR) and thousands of Clevelanders said their final good-byes to the bridge as it disappeared into the Cuyahoga River Valley.
Controlled explosive demolition of the steel skeleton of the 1959 Innerbelt Bridge took place shortly after 6 a.m. this morning and dropped five (5) of the nine (9) steel spans of the old bridge.
During the early morning controlled demolition of the old Innerbelt Bridge, many local roadways were closed, and ODOT crews set a 1,000-foot safety perimeter, closing all roadways within that perimeter, including I-90, the Lorain-Carnegie Bridge, Abbey Avenue and many local roadways in Tremont and the Flats.
The team, including Joseph B. Fay Company and Controlled Demolition, Inc., used a mixture of both traditional demolition and the “controlled” – or explosive – demolition method.
The bridge railings, lights, barriers and concrete driving surface were all removed using traditional methods. Specific spans over the river and railroads were also disassembled in a traditional manner.
Demolition began in January and has been a sequenced activity much like construction, only in reverse. The bridge railings, lights, barriers and concrete driving surface were all removed using traditional methods as well as specific steel spans over the river and railroads.
Concrete piers and one additional steel span will be demolished this summer using traditional methods. Demolition is expected to be complete by the end of August.
When the bridge opened in 1959 it was the widest bridge in Ohio, carrying four (4) lanes in each direction. The bridge carried interstate traffic in both directions and was a classic steel “Pratt Deck Truss” with a cast-in-place concrete deck and steel parapets. It stood 128 feet tall, 116 feet wide and was 5,078 feet long.
ODOT is in the midst of replacing the 1959 bridge with two new structures – one to carry traffic in each direction. The pair have been named in honor of statesman George V. Voinovich.
Replacement of the 1959 bridge is vital to the success of moving people in and out of downtown Cleveland now and in the future. It will enhance capacity, bolster our economy and ensure the safety of motorists. The first of the pair is now open and temporarily carrying traffic in both directions until completion of the second new bridge in late 2016.
For more information on this project and others along the Innerbelt Corridor, please visit www.Innerbelt.org.
