Valley View Bridge - History

History

In 1971, construction of the Outerbelt South Freeway (I-480) began on both sides of the Cuyahoga River valley, in Valley View and Independence. To join the sections, two parallel bridge decks (one for westbound traffic and the other for eastbound traffic) were constructed. Each section consists of 93-foot (28 m) long beams connected by steel bolts, and the bridge supports are in concrete. The support pillars were completed within two years, and the decking within four years. The bridges opened in 1977 providing access to the nearby Willow Freeway (I-77).

In 1999, the Ohio Department of Transportation painted the bridge a red-primer color, replacing the original gray.

In 2010, the bridge received the honorary name "Union Workers Memorial Bridge".

In 2011, ODOT will begin a project to retrofit the bridge's parapets. The work includes installing new fences and moving the overhead lighting to the outside of the structures. The estimated cost of construction is $4.4 million.

A pair of Peregrine Falcons nests under the bridge.

Read more about this topic:  Valley View Bridge

Famous quotes containing the word history:

    It is true that this man was nothing but an elemental force in motion, directed and rendered more effective by extreme cunning and by a relentless tactical clairvoyance .... Hitler was history in its purest form.
    Albert Camus (1913–1960)

    America is the only nation in history which miraculously has gone directly from barbarism to degeneration without the usual interval of civilization.
    Georges Clemenceau (1841–1929)

    In front of these sinister facts, the first lesson of history is the good of evil. Good is a good doctor, but Bad is sometimes a better.
    Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)