On July 28, 2016, 12 members of various local EHS organizations, including NEOCHMM, NEOAIHA, Northern Ohio ASSE and McKinley ASSE attended a tour of the George V. Voinovich Innerbelt Bridge in Cleveland, Ohio. The tour was presented by the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) and covered the eastern approach to the bridge, from Canal Road to the Cuyahoga River.

This bridge project is the largest bridge project undertaken by ODOT. The bridge is the second of two that will link Interstate 90 across the Cuyahoga River Valley and is being constructed by Trumbull Corporation, Great Lakes Construction Company and the Ruhlin Company. The span replaced a 1959-era steel truss bridge that had a 50 year lifespan.

On the way, the visitors were given a lesson in the transportation history of the area, with discussion of the safety, sustainability and special logistic challenges that were faced in all phases of the demolition of the former bridge as well as the construction of both phases of the current Innerbelt Bridge. The project has had to contend with challenging safety, the logistics of keeping a busy railway operating and maintaining an open waterway, endangered species, economic and community impacts and ecologically sensitive areas.

The bridge project is expected to open to traffic later this fall. Tours of the worksite are open to the public by prior reservation two days per month or by special arrangement.

For more information on the bridge and its completion, visit Innerbeltbridge

A link to the video of the bridge being cut and dropped can be found here