'Poor' bridges dot Ohio River
3 of 4 owned by state deficient; one gets brittle in frigid weather
Sunday, August 12, 2007 3:48 AM
By Randy Ludlow
When the worst of winter shrouds southern Ohio, motorists in Ironton should watch their thermometers.
If the temperature falls to 5 below zero, the cantilever bridge over the Ohio River to Russell, Ky., will be closed.
The steel of the 85-year-old bridge becomes so brittle in bitter cold that engineers fear it could fracture, raising the specter of the span toppling.
Of the 35 Ohio River bridges connecting the Buckeye State to Kentucky and West Virginia, seven are rated structurally deficient.
The Ohio Department of Transportation, which owns four bridges over the river, is responsible for three on their last legs.
The Ironton-Russell bridge, the Pomeroy-Mason, W.Va., bridge and the Fort Steuben bridge at Steubenville are old and deteriorated.
Beset with major problems, each is rated in "poor" condition. While an Ohio State University engineering professor thinks the bridges are unsafe, the state bridge engineer certifies that the spans are sound.
ODOT's Tim Keller readily concedes concerns about the bridges, but he says: "If they weren't safe, they would be shut down."
While not invoked since it was put into place in 2001, the subzero closure drill for the Ironton bridge may be required for another decade.
Bids opened for a replacement span last year were $10 million above estimates. Work on a new bridge won't begin before 2013.
While they await a new Rt. 93 bridge, Ironton residents can't help but recall what happened upriver near Gallipolis nearly 40 years ago.
Forty-six people died in the nation's worst highway-bridge disaster, on Dec. 15, 1967. The memories were revived when the I-35W bridge in Minnesota fell into the Mississippi River on Aug. 1.
"We remember the Silver Bridge collapse down here, and Minneapolis brought it all up again," Ironton Mayor John Elam said. "It makes you think.
"A few years ago, we were told the remaining useful life of that bridge was seven years. It's scary thinking about the number of people who use that bridge daily. We have to go with the state's assurances it's safe."
Structural hanger bars are bending on the Ironton span. Broken and substandard welds, cracks in steel beams, heavy rust and crumbling concrete on support piers are among problems
Testing by University of Cincinnati engineers found that the bridge's steel becomes critically brittle at 5 degrees above zero to 15 degrees below zero. ODOT could not immediately explain why the bridge-closing temperature was set at 5 below zero.
Keller says the bridge, which is posted with a reduced weight limit, will receive $1 million in critical fixes beginning this fall. The repairs will not improve the structure but merely preserve its "poor" rating.
On the cantilever Pomeroy bridge, some floor beams are eaten away, some missing 50 percent to 60 percent of their sections. Welds are cracked. Inspectors worry that vehicles could plow through weak side railings on the structure, built in 1928.
Some gusset plates used to connect steel beams are bowing because of heavy rust. Stress on faulty gusset plates may have been a factor in the Minneapolis bridge collapse, investigators say.
Pomeroy-area residents have the comfort of knowing that a $60 million Rt. 33 replacement bridge is scheduled to open late next year, more than two years behind schedule.
At Steubenville in eastern Ohio, the Fort Steuben suspension bridge is destined for demolition, perhaps as soon as 2009, because a new West Virginia-built bridge opened nearby.
The 1928 bridge, restricted to cars, is pocked with moderate rust and structural beams that have corroded. Some wires have broken in the cables that support the bridge, but not to the point that they threaten structural safety, Keller said.
All the bridges are inspected annually and receive closer-than-normal scrutiny year-round, Keller said. Stresses on the Ironton bridge are monitored remotely through sensors.
In an e-mail response, Hojjat Adeli, an Ohio State engineering professor, said the probability of collapse of Ohio's bad bridges is low.
But bridges with significant structural problems have eroded safety margins that make them vulnerable to failure from unforeseen situations or problems, he added.
"The three bridges … are all in unacceptably poor condition," Adeli wrote. "If I have to choose between one of the two answers, safe or unsafe, I would go with unsafe without hesitation."
Ohio and other states long have neglected their infrastructure and must invest more money in maintenance and construction, Adeli said.
"It is unconscionable in an advanced and rich country like ours for people to die in a bridge collapse. … I hope this will be a wake-up call."
Four other Ohio River bridges also have significant problems. Kentucky and West Virginia own most of the bridges because those states "own" most of the river.
Kentucky has one on the list. But the condition of the 141-year-old Roebling Suspension Bridge at Cincinnati -- the forerunner of the Brooklyn Bridge -- will be upgraded after recent repairs.
West Virginia has one bridge in "critical" condition, the lowest rating before a bridge must be closed.
The 1905-era Rt. 7/Market Street bridge near Steubenville has a reduced load limit, with a replacement to go up starting next year, a Transportation Department spokesman said.
The Mountaineer State's 17th Street West "Rt. 52" bridge in the Huntington area is in "poor" condition but still considered sound, the spokesman said.
The other "critical"-condition bridge over the Ohio River is privately owned.
The Homer Laughlin China Co., of Newell, W.Va., built the suspension span in 1905 and operates it today as a toll bridge. A company official did not return a call seeking comment.
