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

  • Acrow lends critical support for the Cradock Bridge renovation
    October 28, 2016
    International bridge engineering and supply company Acrow recently installed a modular steel structure to maintain traffic flow during renovation of the historic Cradock Bridge in the US The bridge spanning the Mystic River in Medford, a suburb of Boston, Massachusetts, was built in 1637, then rebuilt in 1880 and again rehabilitated in 1934. It was determined to be structurally deficient several years ago - one of many of state-owned bridges - and was put into the state’s Accelerated Bridge Program. W
  • New international trade crossing linking Canada and US
    June 9, 2015
    The Detroit River is short, only 45km, and narrow in places, less than 1km. Around a quarter of the annual $658 billion Canada-US trade crosses over the river. That’s $160 billion worth of goods trucked each year between Detroit in the US state of Michigan and the Canadian city of Windsor in the province of Ontario - the Windsor-Detroit Corridor. There are several types of crossings, but the vast majority of commercial traffic must use the 2.3km Ambassador Bridge (see box). A new bridge was initially prop
  • Barge-mounted Manitowoc MLC300 lists Illinois bridge into place
    June 28, 2018
    The reduced footprint and floating counterweight meant that it is much more efficient for contractors to barge-mount a crawler crane. The crane can be on smaller water-based barges because the machine automatically adjusts its centre of gravity for each lift. Kraemer North America recently used an MLC300 to help replace an 84-year-old truss bridge, the 756m Savanna-Sabula Bridge near Savanna, in the US state of Illinois. The Savanna–Sabula Bridge was a truss bridge and causeway crossing the Mississippi Ri
  • Key UK bridge project for A38
    October 29, 2024
    A key UK bridge project for the A38 over the HS2 route.