John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge
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The John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge spans the Ohio River between Cincinnati, Ohio and Covington, Kentucky. When the first pedestrians crossed on December 1, 1866, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world at 1,057 feet (322 m), a status it maintained until 1883.
Filling a need
By the mid-1800s, Cincinnati had become the nation's leading inland port, and ferry traffic to and from Covington and Newport, Kentucky was at a level where the need for a bridge was apparent. The Covington-Cincinnati Bridge Company, led by Covington businessman Amos Shinkle, was formed to oversee the project. The state of Ohio mandated, however, that if a span was to be built, the piers could not interfere with the city's river shipping, and the deck would have to be high enough for the stacks of steamboats to pass underneath. The 1849 charter for the bridge required:- no piers in the river
- a length of 1,400 feet [427 m] and,
- a deck clearance of 112 feet [34 m].
Engineering achievement
Construction continued for over ten years, interrupted by financial shortages and the Civil War, during which the city and the unfinished bridge were under threat of attack. The bridge was completed in December 1866. As the first bridge to use both vertical suspenders and diagonal stays fanning from each of its 230-foot (70 m) stone towers, it served as the prototype for Roebling's design of the Brooklyn Bridge, which exceeded the Cincinnati bridge in length when it opened in New York in 1883.When the Roebling Bridge was formally opened on January 1, 1867, the driver of a horse and buggy was charged a toll of 15 cents to cross; the toll for three horses and a carriage was 25 cents. Pedestrians were charged a cent.
Alterations and designations
The original deck of the bridge was built at the lowest possible cost due to Civil War inflation, but the stone towers were designed to carry a much heavier load than was originally demanded. In 1896, the bridge was painted blue (rather than brown) and received a second set of main cables, a wider steel deck, and a longer northern approach. The reconstruction significantly altered the appearance of the bridge, but the new 30-ton weight limit extended its usefulness through the 20th century and beyond.The Covington-Cincinnati Bridge Company--a private company--operated the bridge until the Commonwealth of Kentucky purchased it in 1953 for $4.2 million. The state collected tolls until 1963 when the Brent Spence Bridge was opened downriver on Interstate 75. KY 17 ends in the middle of the bridge.
The bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975 and designated a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1983. It remains the busiest of Cincinnati's four non-expressway automobile or pedestrian bridges. Initially called the "Covington-Cincinnati Suspension Bridge," it was renamed in honor of its designer and builder on June 27, 1983.
The state of Kentucky plans to close the bridge for one year starting in October 2006, immediately following the Tall Stacks festival, to make extensive repairs to the structure. Structural and electrical repairs, as well as repainting, will take place for about 1 year before the bridge re-opens.
Trivia
This bridge was shown in the 1988 movie Rain Man as Charlie and Raymond go across the bridge in a Buick Roadmaster convertible.References
- [The Suspension Bridge]. Cincinnati Transit.
- [Bridging the century]. The Cincinnati Post. March 25, 1999.
- [John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge]. RootsWeb.com.
See also
External links
- [Structurae: Cincinnati-Covington Bridge (1867)]
- [Roebling Suspension Bridge at Cincinnati-Transit.net]
- [Cincinnati Photographs including Roebling Bridge]
- [Photo of bridge] from Google Maps
- [John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge at Bridges & Tunnels].
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