Skip to main content

Demolition underway on bridge structure in Cleveland, Ohio

Demolition work is progressing on track on the old Innerbelt Bridge in the US city of Cleveland and spanning the Cuyahoga River. At present a demolition contractor is breaking up the structure in stages, using cutting gear and cranes to remove portions of the bridge in a phased programme of works. Once the demolition moves to a certain stage in a few months, the contractor will then be able to use explosives to demolish the remaining structure. Four of the truss bridge’s nine spans are being dismantled usi
June 9, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
Demolition work is progressing on track on the old Innerbelt Bridge in the US city of Cleveland and spanning the Cuyahoga River. At present a demolition contractor is breaking up the structure in stages, using cutting gear and cranes to remove portions of the bridge in a phased programme of works. Once the demolition moves to a certain stage in a few months, the contractor will then be able to use explosives to demolish the remaining structure. Four of the truss bridge’s nine spans are being dismantled using cutting gear and cranes at present.

The demolition is required as survey work carried out in 2008 showed the old structure to have serious technical issues. It was initially closed to heavy trucks, which then had to detour along different routes although it was subsequently reopened once further examination of the structure had been carried out. Built in 1959, the Innerbelt Bridge was originally envisaged to carry Interstate 71 but this plan was later revised and the bridge instead carried Interstate 90.

Related Content

  • Fast-track Biloxi Bay bridge
    July 18, 2012
    Construction of a bridge destroyed in a hurricane was completed early, and with some added aesthetic benefits Hurricane Katrina, one of the deadliest and costliest natural disasters in US history, made landfall on 29 August, 2005, devastating the Gulf Coast. The US 90 Bridge over Biloxi Bay (connecting the communities of Biloxi and Ocean Springs, Mississippi) was one of many major highway and railroad bridges knocked out of service due to extensive storm damage. The eye of the storm passed 96km west of Bilo
  • Road widening means bridge demolition
    February 24, 2012
    Two heavy Atlas Copco hydraulic breakers have been used to demolish a bridge on the A40 autobahn at Junction 28 in Gelsenkirchen-Süd, Germany. The bridge was used to carry the four lanes of the A40 over the B277 main road. As the key route in the Ruhr district, the A40 is being widened to incorporate six lanes, so the old bridge needed to be demolished.
  • Autobahn bridge in Bavaria demolished with explosives (VIDEO)
    July 1, 2013
    A demolition contractor in the north of Bavaria recently used 200kg of explosives to demolish an old autobahn viaduct. Situated close to the town of Bad Kissingen and to the north of the city of Nuremberg, the 46 year old A7 viaduct had reached the end of its working life and a new structure had been built alongside in this scenic rural area. Pre-weakening work had been carried out using hydraulic breakers along with drilling the necessary blastholes, to ensure the supports and deck collapsed in a controlle
  • VIDEO: Broadway Bridge defies demolition experts, for a time
    October 12, 2016
    A 100-year old steel arch bridge in the United States stood firm for a time against the blasts laid down by demolition experts.

    The structure connected the cities of Little Rock and North Little Rock in the state of Arkansas. It carried U.S. Route 70 but was finally closed on 28 September.

    Although Broadway Bridge, spanning the Arkansas River, was built almost a century ago, the steel arches were added 60 years later as part of a strengthening project to the under-structure to widen the river navigation channel.