Rating:
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Detroit-Superior High Level Bridge

Cuyahoga County, Ohio
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Photos 

Overview

Photo taken by James Baughn in July 2009

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Street Views 

Description 

The Detroit-Superior High Level Bridge is a combination reinforced-concrete and steel structure with a total length of 2,880 feet. The double-deck bridge was designed to carry four lanes of traffic on the upper roadway and six street railway tracks on the lower deck. The center span over the river was a 591-foot three-hinged steel arch of Pratt truss design. At the time of its completion in 1917, the Detroit-Superior Bridge held the record as the third longest steel arch in the country. The bridge also received attention for its unusual subway approaches beneath the streets at each end of the bridge. The lower streetcar deck was abandoned in 1955.

-- Historic American Engineering Record

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Facts 

Overview
Steel arch bridge over Cuyahoga River on US 6/20 in Cleveland
Location
Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio
Status
Open to traffic
History
Built 1917; rehabilitated 1965 and 1997
Builder
- King Bridge Co. of Cleveland, Ohio
Railroads
- Cleveland Railway
- Cleveland Transit System (CTS)
- Lake Shore Electric Railway (LSE)
- Rail-to-trail
- Streetcar
Design
Steel arch
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 590.9 ft.
Total length: 2,656.0 ft. (0.5 mi.)
Deck width: 71.9 ft.
Recognition
Posted to the National Register of Historic Places on January 18, 1974
Approximate latitude, longitude
+41.49417, -81.70233   (decimal degrees)
41°29'39" N, 81°42'08" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
17/441375/4593854 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Cleveland South
Inventory numbers
ODOT 1800930 (Ohio Dept. of Transportation structure file number)
NRHP 74001437 (National Register of Historic Places reference number)
BH 27443 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Inspection (as of 12/2015)
Deck condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Superstructure condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Appraisal: Functionally obsolete
Sufficiency rating: 66.0 (out of 100)
Average daily traffic (as of 2010)
15,930

Categories 

Arch (11,096)
Built 1917 (568)
Built during 1910s (8,572)
Cleveland Railway (4)
Cleveland Transit System (1)
Cleveland, Ohio (102)
Concrete Arch (5)
Cuyahoga County, Ohio (171)
Cuyahoga River (47)
Deck arch (10,339)
Functionally obsolete (7,874)
Have street view (21,414)
King Bridge Co. (276)
Lake Shore Electric Railway (11)
 NR-listed (2,837)
Ohio (2,874)
Ohio Department of Transportation Historic Bridge List (13)
Open (35,949)
Owned by state (13,233)
Rail-and-Road (301)
Rail-to-trail (1,284)
Riveted (1,793)
Span length 500-1000 feet (374)
Steel arch (337)
Streetcar (201)
Total length over 2500 feet (788)
US 6 (110)

Update Log 

  • October 10, 2016: Updated by Christopher Finigan: Added categories "Concrete Arch", "Riveted"
  • March 12, 2014: Photos imported by Dave King
  • February 25, 2014: Updated by Luke Harden: Added categories "King Bridge Co.", "Cleveland Railway", "Cleveland Transit System"
  • November 30, 2013: Updated by Luke Harden: Added categories "Rail-and-Road", "Rail-to-trail", "Streetcar"
  • October 5, 2013: Updated by C Hanchey: Added category "Ohio Department of Transportation Historic Bridge List "
  • July 23, 2009: New photos from James Baughn

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Sources 

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Comments 

Detroit-Superior High Level Bridge
Posted November 30, 2013, by kayandjay.biz

Lower level is an abandon street car line.

Detroit-Superior High Level Bridge
Posted May 19, 2008, by Jay Nicks (jnicks11 [at] juno [dot] com)

There was once a trolley on the lower level.