Adams Street Bridge

I think the areas that concern pontists and bridgehunters are the loss of the historic bridge being one, and the other being the way in which aesthetics are attempted in the replacement bridge. This is a prestressed girder with fake arch facades. Rather than make my own argument I will let the exact words of famous bridge engineer Ralph Modjeski speak for themselves:

"There seems to be a prevalent idea among even some of the best engineers of our country that the addition of a few cast iron stars, bent bars, perforated plates in the portals or corkscrews on the hips will make any bridge look handsome. If the skeleton of the bridge or of any structure is not designed aesthetically, such petty ornaments only make things worse and should always be discouraged. It is impossible to take the skeleton of a hunchback and make an Apollo of him by covering it with any amount of beautiful flesh and skin. If a structure is to be beautiful its aesthetic side must be given equal importance and attention with its stability. Both have to guide the designer from the very conception of the project; the skeleton must be built in harmony with the ornaments." -Ralph Modjeski, In 1898

I have walked both bridges, the new and the old, many times.

The sidewalks on the new one are about 3 times wider than

the old one, and now include observation platforms. The new

bridge is much "friendlier" to all users, no doubts there.

Take a walk & see. By the way the speed limit on Adams St is 25 mph, it is a park area.

"Miami County spent some extra money to replace this bridge

with a new one that is both better and more beautiful than

the old one." No, actually, Miami county did nothing more than foolishly waste taxpayer money...I have YET to see ANY new bridge that even comes close to it's historic predecessor in terms of beauty, efficient use of materials, or quality of craftsmanship! Stringer bridges with fake arch-y facades look just plain STUPID, and you can bet that this monstrosity will be ready for REPLACEMENT in 20 years or less--just the way they're built these days.

I don't need a photo of the replacement bridge. The construction plans make it pretty clear that the replacement bridge is of inferior quality, void of heritage, and a mockery of the historic bridge with its fake facades. The old railings of the bridge encouraged people to park and walk to enjoy the views of the river rather to look at the river as they drive by at 50mph while also texting on their phones. Historic bridges help encourage us to slow down in life and take a few moments to appreciate what this great country has (or had). A modern bridge encourages us to go faster and ignore the beauty and heritage of the country.

Added a street view from the old bridge.

It's still not historic people... Let's learn how to take better care of what we've got!

Miami County spent some extra money to replace this bridge

with a new one that is both better and more beautiful than

the old one. You can SEE through the side railing of the

new bridge, that was the worst part about the old one...

as a car passenger or driver you could not look out through

the side railings at the river, park, old downtown, etC.

Someone with a good camera, please post a good photo of

this beautiful modern replacement, we are proud of it.

The new bridge is done. Please visit so you can update your ratings and pictures.

Here are a few pictures taken last week.

How predictable. Reviewing the plans for the replacement. Typical pre-stressed girder with stupid looking arch-shaped facades on outside of the bridge. Has "pedestrian outlooks" on the bridge which I assume were placed so people who are overcome by how ugly the new bridge is can vomit over the side of the bridge.

They might as well tear the bridge down, its the Ohio thing to do with concrete arch bridges, at least in this part of the state. Dayton literally went through one by one and demolished all their historic concrete arch bridges. Columbus did the same thing including one of the most beautiful works of Art deco I have ever seen. At least this way, people in Ohio won't get confused and think they are in Indiana.

Thank you, Miami County, for recognizing the historic significance of this structure and showing appreciation for its 90 years of service--by ripping it down and putting up a UCEB with a marker! Preciate it!!

This bridge is scheduled to be replaced. Looking through the contract drawings I found the historical marker that will be one the new bridge.