U.S. Grant Bridge

The U.S. Grant Bridge is the name of the two bridges that carry and have carried traffic on U.S. Route 23 between Portsmouth, Ohio and South Portsmouth, Kentucky (just west of the city of South Shore) across the Ohio River in the United States. The original suspension bridge was closed and demolished in 2001 and the replacement cable-stayed bridge opened on October 16, 2006.

U.S. Grant Bridge (current)
Current U.S. Grant Bridge carrying US 23 over the Ohio River.
Coordinates38°43′39″N 82°59′50″W
Carries2 lanes of US 23
CrossesOhio River
LocalePortsmouth, Ohio and South Portsmouth, Kentucky
Maintained byOhio Department of Transportation
Characteristics
DesignCable-stayed bridge
Total length657 m (2155 ft.)
Longest span267 m (875 ft.)
History
OpenedOctober 16, 2006 at a cost of more than $28,434,495
Location

Current U.S. Grant Bridge
U.S. Grant Bridge under construction on June 21, 2005
Aerial view of the bridge and surroundings

Contracts for the new U.S. Grant Bridge were given in the spring of 2001. Construction was expected to be complete in June 2004, but work fell behind schedule due to inclement weather, unusual flooding of the Ohio River, and the partial sinking of a floating construction barge which carried one of the cranes used to work on the center span of the bridge. The date of completion was moved to October 16, 2006.

In addition, many downtown business owners were upset over the delays and often criticized the construction company, C.J. Mahan Construction Company, for delays on days when it was sunny and the river levels were average. The bridge was critically underdesigned and not constructible until C.J. Mahan stopped construction and awaited a near complete redesign by the design consultant. Another complaint was that this is the first major bridge project the construction company that was awarded the construction contract has worked on. However, C.J. Mahan has constructed other large bridges in Ohio and West Virginia. Local business owners demanded that ODOT pay local businesses $8 million in lost profit.

Original U.S. Grant Bridge
U.S. Grant Bridge
1930s postcard
Coordinates38°43′50″N 82°59′49″W
General U.S. Grant Bridge
LocationOhio R.-Chillicothe and Second St., South Portsmouth, Kentucky
Coordinates38°43′29″N 82°59′53″W
Built1927
ArchitectRobinson and Steinman; et al.
Architectural styleCable suspension bridge
NRHP reference No.01000560[1]
Added to NRHPMay 31, 2001
Carries2 lanes of US 23
CrossesOhio River
LocalePortsmouth, Ohio and South Portsmouth, Kentucky
Maintained byOhio Department of Transportation
Characteristics
DesignSuspension bridge
History
Opened1927
Closed2001
Statistics
Tolltolls dropped in 1974
Location

The original U.S. Grant Bridge was a suspension bridge. The bridge opened to traffic as a toll bridge in 1927. It wasn't until 1974 when the Ohio Department of Transportation bought the bridge from the Ohio Bridge Commission and removed the tolls.[2] After an inspection found serious deterioration of its suspension cables, the U.S. Grant Bridge closed for repairs over an 18-month period from 1978 to 1979. In order to improve capacity and to add redundancy for vehicular traffic to cross the Ohio River at Portsmouth, a new bridge was proposed downstream from the U.S. Grant Bridge.[3] The proposed bridge would be named the Carl Perkins Bridge and would open to traffic in 1988. In addition, the Jesse Stuart Memorial Bridge, an additional bridge over the Greenup Lock and Dam upstream from the U.S. Grant Bridge, would open to traffic in 1984.

In 1992, ODOT initiated a long-range study to determine whether to continue to rehabilitate the existing bridge or construct a new span. ODOT had spent $9 million from 1977 to 1996 by the time the study was completed to rehabilitate portions of the bridge. According to the study, rehabilitating the span would add only 20 useful years to the suspension bridge before rehabilitation would need to occur again and would cost nearly $30 million. It was found not cost-efficient to continuously rehabilitate the suspension bridge when a new structure would be cheaper in the long-run. The bridge continued to age and once again closed from repairs in 1994.

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 31, 2001 as General U.S. Grant Bridge.[1] It was deemed "significant as it represents the first private toll bridge across the Ohio River between Wheeling, West Virginia and Cincinnati, Ohio, and as such provided a strategic vehicular transportation link between southern Ohio and northeastern Kentucky. The U.S. Grant Bridge was also Ohio's first north-south automobile link crossing the Ohio River between Cincinnati and Ironton and today stands as an important engineering achievement associated with the development of early motoring and interstate commerce." It was also deemed notable for "the role the General U. S. Grant Bridge design occupies in the career of David B. Steinman. Steinman, a principal in the engineering consulting firm of Robinson and Steinman, ranked among the nation's prominent early 20th century suspension bridge design firms. Steinman achieved national renown as a bridge designer and author during his long career from 1914 until his death in 1960. His General U. S. Grant Bridge was the second American suspension bridge built with a continuous stiffening truss and the first American suspension bridge with towers of the rocker type (ENR, pp. 622-623). The sand-filled anchorages were equally innovative."[4]

On July 3, 2001, the original suspension bridge was permanently closed to traffic and the entire structure was torn down within a few months.

See also

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. "Gilligan Signs Legislation To Free U.S. Grant Bridge". Portsmouth Daily Times. February 28, 1974. p. 1. Retrieved March 10, 2018 – via https://newspaperarchive.com/.
  3. Environmental Impact Statement: New Bridge Over the Ohio River Near Portsmouth, Ohio and South Shore, Kentucky. Kentucky Department of Transportation Office of Planning and Programming Division of Highway Systems. 1981. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
  4. Martha Appel Burt (April 2000). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: General U.S. Grant Bridge / Fullerton-Portsmouth Bridge (Structural No. 7300018)". National Park Service. Retrieved December 13, 2017. With photos.
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