Since we are talking about the steel mills, what a perfect opportunity to talk about one of the many was the steel was put to use. The Market Street Bridge, formerly known to Steubenville as the Steubenville Bridge, has always been one of the most iconic bridges in the Steubenville area for being very ornate. It was first built in 1905 to carry light rail traffic. Penn Bridge Company was the fabricator and Ohio Steel Erection Company was the contractor. Then in 1922, the top chord of the bridge failed due to overloaded freight cars. When repaired, the bridge had also its load bearing capacity increased. It cannot be track to when this happened, but the bridge was remodeled. The entire original construction was replaced with a more modern approach. Above, are sketches of what the decorations of the bridge had previously looked like. In 1941, for 1.3 million dollars, West Virginia purchased the bridge. In 2011, the bridge was rehabilitated again. It was also repainted into a two-color paint scheme-- yellow and blue. Lights were also added in 2011 to the bridge. But the lights did not last very long and were shut off due to a safety hazard for barges that would go under the bridge at night. This upset many citizens. After several months of discussion, the lights were turned back on in the beginning of 2016.
Here are some accounts of people's reactions, given by WTOV9 news:
"It's been a wonderful tourist attraction, a source of pride for everybody in the valley: Weirton, Follansbee, Steubenville, Toronto," said Judy Bratten, executive director of Historic Fort Steuben. "We're all just excited about it."
The lights have a deep meaning to some residents of the Ohio Valley.
"I had one lady tell me that when she drove up through there the other morning and saw those lights on, how that made her day," said Tim Ennis, Brooke County commissioner. "Something so simple like that can bring the peoples' spirits up."
Below, is an image of the bridge today.
The bridge is a steel suspension bridge with a 22 foot wide deck, 3 main spans totaling 1794 feet, the longest span being 700 feet and suspended almost 75 feet above the Ohio River by wire cables from steel towers rising 210 feet above the cut stone piers sunk into the river bottom” (Lohr, pg. 2). It spans across an Ohio highway and through West Virginia. It is a multipurpose bridge, used by both pedestrians and vehicles. This bridge is a perfect example of accommodating to the increase of population, as the bridge was remodeled to allow pedestrians to travel across it safely. It also represents the ever evolving mode of transportation through history, allowing people to communicate and travel to new places with ease.
Here are some accounts of people's reactions, given by WTOV9 news:
"It's been a wonderful tourist attraction, a source of pride for everybody in the valley: Weirton, Follansbee, Steubenville, Toronto," said Judy Bratten, executive director of Historic Fort Steuben. "We're all just excited about it."
The lights have a deep meaning to some residents of the Ohio Valley.
"I had one lady tell me that when she drove up through there the other morning and saw those lights on, how that made her day," said Tim Ennis, Brooke County commissioner. "Something so simple like that can bring the peoples' spirits up."
Below, is an image of the bridge today.
The bridge is a steel suspension bridge with a 22 foot wide deck, 3 main spans totaling 1794 feet, the longest span being 700 feet and suspended almost 75 feet above the Ohio River by wire cables from steel towers rising 210 feet above the cut stone piers sunk into the river bottom” (Lohr, pg. 2). It spans across an Ohio highway and through West Virginia. It is a multipurpose bridge, used by both pedestrians and vehicles. This bridge is a perfect example of accommodating to the increase of population, as the bridge was remodeled to allow pedestrians to travel across it safely. It also represents the ever evolving mode of transportation through history, allowing people to communicate and travel to new places with ease.
http://historicbridges.org/bridges/browser/?bridgebrowser=ohio/market/
http://wtov9.com/news/local/lights-on-the-market-street-bridge-are-coming-back-on
ttp://www.jeffcochapter.com/SteubenvilleTwp/History/A%20Short%20History%20of%20The%20Steubenville%20Bridge.pdf
http://wtov9.com/news/local/lights-on-the-market-street-bridge-are-coming-back-on
ttp://www.jeffcochapter.com/SteubenvilleTwp/History/A%20Short%20History%20of%20The%20Steubenville%20Bridge.pdf