MTM Cincinnati (Repost): The Jeremiah Morrow Bridge

[Sorry about this, but I had to rewrite this one from scratch.  For whatever reason, WordPress ate last Monday’s post.  Next week, I’ll have something new.  Promise.]

About 35 miles north of Cincinnati is the Little Miami River Gorge, a 300-foot deep ravine cutting through Warren County.  I-71 crosses this gorge on the way to Columbus by traversing the Jeremiah Morrow Bridge.  The twin spans of the bridge  make up the single tallest bridge in Ohio.  It has one fatal flaw, however.  It is of the same bridge type as the ill-fated I-35W bridge in Minneapolis that collapsed a few years ago.  Built in 1965, the Morrow Bridge is approaching the end of its functional life span.  So in July, the State of Ohio began a five-year project to replace it with a cast-in-place concrete design that could conceivably last a century or more.

The bridge is actually one of the attractions when walking or biking the Little Miami Trail.  You hear the highway before you reach it.  Because of the trees overhead, you actually don’t see it until you’re almost underneath.  Then you look up.

As in 259 feet up.  Yep, those are semis you hear up in the sky.

Have a look after the jump.

More at the My Town Monday blog.

Here we see the bridge from the trail where the bridge first becomes visible.

And here’s a shot from directly underneath the bridge on the trail.

Looking south from the trail across the Little Miami River.

Climbing the banks of the gorge and looking north from under the bridge.

Looking south from the gorge bank standing between the spans.

Headed north on I-71 over the bridge.  Doesn’t look like much from road level if you only watch the road.

Looking east from the northbound lane over the gorge.

West over the gorge from the southbound lane.  Look closely.  You can see the Little Miami Trail where I was just a couple of hours before this shot was taken.

Here is an artist’s rendering of the new bridge from Omnipro Services LLC, who designed the new span.