The Flats Industrial Railroad Bridge, located at Ox Bow Bend in Cleveland, Ohio, facilitated the Flats Industrial Railroad’s crossing over the Cuyahoga River.
The Flats Industrial Railroad Bridge, located at Ox Bow Bend in Cleveland, Ohio, facilitated the Flats Industrial Railroad’s crossing over the Cuyahoga River.
This bridge has historical significance as it was located at the site of Cleveland’s oldest railroad, established in 1851 by Alfred Kelley, a notable figure who served as mayor and canal commissioner. 1 Initially known as the Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati Railroad, it merged with the Bellefontaine Railway in May 1868 to form the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati & Indianapolis Railway (CCC&I, commonly known as Big Four). In 1906, the New York Central Railroad (NYC) acquired the Big Four but operated it as a distinct entity until 1930.
The original bridge at this location, constructed in 1902, served the Big Four, crossing the Cuyahoga River. 1 Built by the Scherzer Rolling Lift Bridge Company from Chicago, Illinois, this Warren through truss bascule lift bridge had a clear channel opening of 110 feet. 1 6
A $11 million project commenced in 1937 to remove hazardous curves and widen the navigational channel of the Cuyahoga River. 6 This project aimed to expand the river’s navigational width and soften sharp curves, following recommendations from the United States Army Corps of Engineers and the River and Harbor Committee of the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce. This included the construction of a new bridge for the New York Central Railroad (NYC) at Ox Bow Bend. 6 By 1953, the Cleveland Harbor improvement project, which encompassed these efforts to straighten and widen the Cuyahoga River, was 60% complete. 4
In December 1953, 5 a new bridge, Cuyahoga River Bridge No. 8, was completed. 1 Designed by the Howard, Needles, Tammen & Bergendoff Corporation from Kansas City, Kansas, its construction involved Bates & Rogers Construction for the substructure and the Mt. Vernon Bridge Company for the superstructure, with steel erection by the McDowell Wellman Company of Cleveland. 1 6 This bridge featured a 260-foot vertical lift span, normally lifting 90 feet, and a 200-foot clear channel width. It was equipped with two 135 horsepower motors, a drive shaft for the counterweight sheaves, and balance chains for load adjustment.
The federal government paid 90% of the construction cost, with the railroad paying the remaining 10%. 6
Awarded the 1953 Class IV “Most Beautiful Steel Bridge” by the American Institute of Steel Construction, 6 this bridge served the NYC until 1968. Following this, the NYC merged with the Pennsylvania Railroad to form Penn Central, which later went bankrupt in 1970 and was absorbed into Conrail in 1976. The line was then sold to the Flats Industrial Railroad (FIR) in 1996. 2 3
As of July 2020, following the closure of Grain Craft, the last customer on the line located on Merwin Avenue, there has been no commercial traffic over the Flats Industrial Railroad Bridge. 3
Details
- State: Ohio
- Route: Flats Industrial Railroad
- Status: Active (Railroad)
- Type: Vertical Lift, Warren Through Truss
- Total Length: 125' (1906); 260' (1953)
- Main Span Length: 0
- Spans: 0
- Deck Width: 0
- Roadway Width: 0
- Height of Structure: 0
- Above Vertical Clearance: 0
- Navigational Clearance: 97.7' (1953)
Sources
- Watson, Sara Ruth, and John R. Wolfs. “Movable Bridges.” Bridges of Metropolitan Cleveland: Past and Present, American Society of Civil Engineers, Cleveland, OH, 1981.
- “Notices STB Finance Docket No. 34108.” Federal Register, 15 Nov. 2001, p. 57506.
- Prendergast, Ken. “Cuyahoga River’s last grain mill to close; mill’s fate uncertain.” NEOtrans, 28 Apr. 2020.
- “Civil Functions, Department of the Army Appropriations, 1953.” Committee on Appropriations, 1952, pp. 1096-1097.
- “Cleveland Harbor, Ohio.” Report of the Chief of Engineers, U.S. Army, 1967, pp. 1269-1274.
- Bluestone, Daniel M., ed. “Cleveland Chamber of Commerce and St. Louis Railroad Bridge #4.” Cleveland: An Inventory of Historic Engineering and Industrial Sites, Historic American Engineering Record, 1978, pp. 93-96.