Fort Steuben (suspension) Bridge demolition contract advertised

[J N Winkler]

Blurb on the bridge is here:

http://www.bridgemapper.com/bridge_detail.php?ID=997

Ohio DOT has now advertised the demolition contract, under PID 79175.  The job is blandly described as "miscellaneous" in the bid letting pamphlet for June 30, but sheets 110 onward are for demolition of the bridge.

[Alps]

Some photos at www.alpsroads.net/roads/wv/oh (and nearby pages, such as US 22 and OH 7). Hope anyone near there can get out one last time for some photos.

[Sykotyk]

I live in Steubenville. It's a shame the bridge has to come down, but with Veterans Bridge opened, it really has no main purpose as the area just east of the bridge was industrial and the bridge is closed to all commercial traffic. It also eliminates the non-freeway junction to/from US22/OH7. The big problem will be if/when Market Street Bridge has to come down and US22 becomes the only crossing between East Liverpool and Wheeling.

And don't get me started on the planned Brilliant-to-Wellsburg bridge connecting nothing.

[Alps]

The bridge should quite simply be preserved as a pedestrian crossing between the towns.

[Sykotyk]

Unfortunately the only access on the Ohio side is via the US22 freeway. There is no pedestrian access. You can't even finagle a pathway to access the marina as the OH-7 and US-22 curved mainline go under the bridge between the river. Considering its deteriorating condition, if it can't be used for vehicular traffic it really has no useful life left. The Market Street Bridge is an entirely different beast. That's the one that needs to be preserved as it is accessed off Market Street downtown and although connected to a quasi-freeway extension from Weirton, it still can be utilized to an extent. Plus, has, I feel, more historical significance due to its sheer age.

[Alps]

While it would be POSSIBLE, I retract my statement. I just wish there was some excuse to save it, like the old US 66 bridge from CA-AZ that became a gas pipeline.

[NE2]

Pedestrian access would be pretty simple by using the SR 7 north to bridge ramp and the median of SR 7 to the light at University. The median looks barely large enough to put up barriers on either side and still have a decent-width walkway.

[seicer]

I have a lot of photos from the bridge that I've been sitting on for a while. I'll post them when I can dig it up from the drives soon!