History
The original bridge was constructed in 1880. It had two swing spans as the lock of a nearby dam was in the process of being moved from the west to east side. That bridge was wrecked by the 1884 flood. A second bridge was built on the same piers, also with two swing spans. An increase in traffic necessitated a new bridge in 1900, which was built on 4 new stone piers with a single swing section. That bridge was swept away in the Ohio flood of 1913.
In 1913-4 a new bridge was built on the same piers and abutments, but was raised up 4 feet (1.2 m) to reduce the risk of further flood damage. The bridge was built by the Nelson-Merydith Company of Marietta. In 1951, the timber deck was replaced by concrete. In 1972 the timber sidewalks were replaced and repairs were made to the structure. In 1993 structural reinforcements were added. On 27 April 2000, this span was demolished using 400 linear shaped charges.
In 1999 a new bridge was constructed just down stream of the 1880 crossing. The new bridge is the first in Ohio to use the cast-in-place reinforced concrete box with the balanced cantilever method of construction. The new bridge, while of a new design, incorporates architectural details of the older bridge. The new bridge cost US$11.4 million.
Read more about this topic: Putnam Street Bridge
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“America is the only nation in history which, miraculously, has gone directly from barbarism to degeneration without the usual interval of civilization.”
—Attributed to Georges Clemenceau (1841–1929)
“A poet’s object is not to tell what actually happened but what could or would happen either probably or inevitably.... For this reason poetry is something more scientific and serious than history, because poetry tends to give general truths while history gives particular facts.”
—Aristotle (384–323 B.C.)
“One classic American landscape haunts all of American literature. It is a picture of Eden, perceived at the instant of history when corruption has just begun to set in. The serpent has shown his scaly head in the undergrowth. The apple gleams on the tree. The old drama of the Fall is ready to start all over again.”
—Jonathan Raban (b. 1942)