The Innerbelt Bridge is a truss arch bridge

Truss arch bridge

A truss arch bridge combines the elements of the truss bridge and the arch bridge. The actual resolution of forces will depend upon the design. If no horizontal thrusting forces are generated this becomes an arch-shaped truss, essentially a bent beam — see moon bridge for an example...

 in Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...

 carrying Interstate 90

Interstate 90 in Ohio

In the U.S. state of Ohio, Interstate 90 runs east–west across the northern tier. Much of it is along the Ohio Turnpike, but sections outside the turnpike pass through Cleveland and northeast into Pennsylvania.-Route description:...

/Innerbelt Freeway

Innerbelt Freeway

An Innerbelt Freeway is a set of freeway facilities arranged in a loop that serves the interior of a major city, primarily as a traffic reliever for downtown commuters...

 over the Cuyahoga River

Cuyahoga River

The Cuyahoga River is located in Northeast Ohio in the United States. Outside of Ohio, the river is most famous for being "the river that caught fire", helping to spur the environmental movement in the late 1960s...

.

History

The bridge, completed in 1959, is 4223 feet (1,287.2 m) in length and 116.25 feet (35.43 m) in width, built as the widest bridge in Ohio. The Innerbelt Bridge replaced the Central Viaduct.
On November 13, 2008, all commercial truck traffic was banned from the bridge because it was deemed structurally insufficient after a review of a computer analysis. Trucks needed to follow Interstate 490

Interstate 490 (Ohio)

Interstate 490 is a Interstate Highway in Cleveland, Ohio. The western terminus is a junction with I-90 and I-71 on Cleveland's west side. After spanning the Cuyahoga River, the eastern terminus is a junction with East 55th Street, just east of I-77....

 and Interstate 77

Interstate 77

Interstate 77 is an Interstate Highway in the eastern United States. It traverses diverse terrain, from the mountainous state of West Virginia to the rolling farmlands of North Carolina and Ohio. It largely supplants the old U.S...

 to detour around the bridge. Two bridge lanes of four in each direction were closed from September 1 until November 13, when an additional lane was reopened each way. On November 25, 2009, the Ohio Department of Transportation

Ohio Department of Transportation

The Ohio Department of Transportation is the organization of state government responsible for developing and maintaining all state and federal roadways in the state of Ohio with exception of the Ohio Turnpike. In addition to highways, the department also helps develop public transportation and...

 (ODOT) reopened the fourth lane in each direction and permitted trucks to use the westbound roadway again; trucks were permitted eastbound again in mid-2010, although detour signage was retained to discourage trucks in that direction from using the bridge due to engineering and traffic flow concerns.

Reconstruction

The current bridge is to be demolished, with a new bridge built in its place for northeastbound-only traffic by 2017. In addition, a new parallel span is to be built, projected to open by Fall of 2013, as part of the Innerbelt Freeway rebuild. The latter, southwestbound, span is to be named the George V. Voinovich

George Voinovich

George Victor Voinovich is a former United States Senator from the state of Ohio, and a member of the Republican Party. Previously, he served as the 65th Governor of Ohio from 1991 to 1998, and as the 54th mayor of Cleveland from 1980 to 1989.-Personal life:Born in Cleveland, Ohio, his father was...

 Bridge on September 15, 2011.

The Federal Highway Administration

Federal Highway Administration

The Federal Highway Administration is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two "programs," the Federal-aid Highway Program and the Federal Lands Highway Program...

/ODOT Record of Decision

Record of Decision

A Record of Decision in the United States is the formal decision document which is recorded for the public.- Federal Register :The ROD is announced in a Notice of Availability in the Federal Register and is printed and made available to the public on the CRMP website.-USEPA :In the USEPA, the...

 for the project was issued on September 18, 2009. Construction on the southwestbound span began on March 30, 2011, with a ceremonial groundbreaking following on May 2.

External links

• Inner Belt Bridge - The Plain Dealer special section
• "Innerbelt Freeway". Encyclopedia of Cleveland History. Transcription at The Cleveland Memory Project website.