These are notes that I am writing to help me learn our industrial history. They are my best understanding, but that does not mean they are a correct understanding.
This bridge and a new bypass highway opened in 2000 so that the 1931 suspension bridge that is a little upstream from here could be closed for rehabilitation. And trucks over 15 tons still use this bridge instead of the old one.
This bridge was built after the problem of cable vibration was well understood. Many earlier cable stayed bridges had problems with the stay cables vibrating during light rain showers. Older bridges had to be retrofit with a dampening mechanisms. On the Harsha Bridge, the cables were encased in a plastic tube. That tube has a small ridge on it that spirals around the tube for its full length. The ridge provides a small amount of lift that disturbs the air around the cables just enough where the vibration will not get started. This was an extremely cheap solution to a problem that has proven to be very costly to some earlier cable stayed bridge operators.
William H. Harsha was a Congressman from Ohio from 1961 to 1981.
Two of the photos posted by We Work the Waterways of the Donna Rae going under the bridge.
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I wonder why a bridge that is just 20 years old has "cabling and other deficiencies."
PeoplesDefender "Repairs are expected to take place in 2023, according to information from KYTC. The two area bridges that span the Ohio River were among bridge projects included in Governor Beshear’s proposed budget with $8 million to address cabling and other deficiencies in the William Harsha Bridge and $23.4 million designated to rehabilitate the Simon Kenton Memorial Bridge which connects downtown Maysville to its Ohio neighbors. Improvements to the Simon Kenton Bridge include suspender cable replacements, steel repairs, and painting, KYTC spokesperson Allen Blair said."
A cable-stayed bridge was built downstream from here for a bypass highway. Both US-62 and US-68 were moved to the new highway while they closed this bridge for rehabilitation. Technically, US-62 has been moved back to this bridge, but trucks over 15 tons still have to use the bypass highway.
Looking upstream from the Kentucky side. In the distance, around the bend, is the JM Stuart Power Plant. Once again, I'm thankful for Kentucky's support of fishermen. In this case they built river access on the other side of the flood wall. And for some street view drivers who are willing to get off the beaten path.
Neil Arnett posted Simon Kenton Bridge over the Ohio River connecting Maysville, Kentucky to Aberdeen, Ohio.
Eddie Gough: I wonder why the Engineers or designer's built the tower piers so high from the water level? Maybe to save money?
Dennis DeBruler commented on Eddie's comment To accommodate floods? The Ohio River can rise over 20'. This chart is from Feb 2020. The highest flood was 61.2' on Mar 5, 1997.
And even with tall piers, the "feet" of the towers sometimes get wet.
Ron Bailey posted Aerial view from the last of January of 1937.
Mary Campbell Bonneau: The big flood was in April, 1937.
Charming Graze posted Photo on flickr Simon Kenton Family Tree| Simon Kenton (Maysville KY-Aberdeen OH) Bridge
C Hanchey Flickr, cropped, License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC)
The towers have the X-bracing that is characteristic of Modjeski and Masters designs. John A. Roebling Sons erected the superstructure as well as fabricate the cables. "The bridge retains excellent historic integrity with no major alterations noted." [HistoricBridges] I'm glad that Ohio and Kentucky are willing to tolerate suspension bridges since they seem to be on a mission to destroy truss bridges.
Bryan Burton Photography posted The Marathon Petroleum Company M/V Martinsville near Maysville, KY on the Ohio River. 05/2025
Bryan Burton Photography posted The Marathon Petroleum Company M/V Martinsville near Maysville, KY on the Ohio River. 05/2025
Steve Griggs posted “M/V Mackenzie Rose” upbound under the Simon Kenton Memorial Bridge in Maysville Kentucky. Steve Griggs shared
Bryan Burton Photography posted The Marathon Petroleum Company M/V Martinsville near Maysville, KY on the Ohio River. 05/2025
The last of five photos posted by Bridges & Tunnels with Sherman Cahal Sunny or cloudy, the historic Simon Kenton Suspension Bridge that links Maysville, Kentucky, and Aberdeen, Ohio is always a stunner. The wire suspension crossing opened in 1931. ➵ Check out more photos and history of the Simon Kenton Suspension Bridge at http://bridgestunnels.com/location/simon-kenton-suspension-bridge/ Larry Klug: It kind of reminds me of a miniature San Francisco Oakland bay bridge. Monty Fulton: This bridge is actually a model of the Golden Gate Bridge, built first to prove the design worked.
The flood wall blocked my view of the anchorage so I didn't notice them until I saw this photo.
FreightWaves A view of the Simon Kenton Memorial Bridge in 1933. (Photo: nkyviews.com) "The Simon Kenton Memorial Bridge was closed for rehabilitation in 2003 and 2004, which included a “deck replacement, structural steel repairs, a new inspection walkway, and a new handrail on the main spans.” In addition, the bridge was painted silver, its original color. At a cost of $5.7 million, National Engineering and Contracting Company completed the rehabilitation construction and painting.
Fast-forward to July 2019; the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet [KYCT] ordered a 3-ton weight limit on the bridge after a routine inspection found “significant safety hazards” in the cable suspension system. The bridge was closed due to corrosion in the suspension cable connectors in November 2019. Then in May 2020, the bridge closing was extended after an inspection of the cable repairs determined that the bridge needed rust-proofing.
The bridge reopened for traffic with a 15-ton weight restriction on June 12, 2020. However, the bridge continues to need major rehabilitation, including replacing all cables." [The 2004 silver paint job caused more harm than good?]
PeoplesDefender "Repairs are expected to take place in 2023, according to information from KYTC. The two area bridges that span the Ohio River were among bridge projects included in Governor Beshear’s proposed budget with $8 million to address cabling and other deficiencies in the William Harsha Bridge and $23.4 million designated to rehabilitate the Simon Kenton Memorial Bridge which connects downtown Maysville to its Ohio neighbors. Improvements to the Simon Kenton Bridge include suspender cable replacements, steel repairs, and painting, KYTC spokesperson Allen Blair said."
nkyviews has several more historical photos. I picked this one because it shows that the river level used to be significantly lower.
Three of the photos posted by We Work the Waterways of the Donna Rae and Jenny B going under the bridge.
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We Work the Waterways posted six photos with the comment:
Amherst Madison's M/V O. NELSON JONES coming through Maysville, Kentucky with 15 loads of coal in Ingram barges en route to Spurlock Power Plant at Mile 414 on the Ohio River.
She was originally the M/V L. FIORE of The Ohio River Company. She originally had Fairbanks Morse opposing piston engines. When Amherst Madison purchased her from Ingram Barge Company they repowered her with EMD engines.
Courtesy of Steve Griggs of dronebufo.
Dallas Kingsbury: I used to work for Ohio Barge Line before they were bought by Ingram. Wondering what happened to all their boats.
Steven J. Brown posted BNSF ES44C4 6861 (built 2012) is westbound on a grainer along the Columbia River passing The Dalles Dam at North Dalles, Washington - June 2, 2012. Steven J. Brown shared
I had noticed that the Trenton Channel Power Plant received its coal via railroad instead of Laker even though DTE built a coal dock in Superior, WI, to ship Powder River Basin coal to its plants along the Detroit River. At first, I assumed it was because the big ships had to use the fat part of the Detroit River on the east side of Grosse Ile. But when I used street view on the free bridge to get a view of the power plant, I noticed that the bridge had a swing span. More on the navigation channel after the topo maps below.
The 1913 toll bridge provides access to the north side of the Grosse Ile. One advantage of a toll bridge is that they can afford to maintain a website.
Historic Grosse Ile Toll Bridge over the Trenton Channel of the Detroit River between Detroit and the northern end of Grosse Ile, Michigan. The bridge was constructed between 1912 and 1913 for the Grosse Ile Bridge Company. It is a five-span polygonal Warren through truss swing bridge.
The bridge was hit by lake freighters in 1965 and 1992 requiring major repairs.
"Over the years, the GIBC has completely renovated, and significantly expanded, the Toll Bridge. The GIBC has also had to perform major repairs to the Toll Bridge as a result of a large section of the span being hit by lake freighters in 1965 and 1992. Despite the magnitude of the damage caused during the September 1992 accident when the H. Lee White self-unloading bulk freighter knocked a section of the span into the river, the Toll Bridge was back in full operation by January of 1993. The GIBC replaced the bridge deck in 1986 and built a new central swing bearing in 1994. During 2005, the GIBC opened a toll plaza in Riverview which greatly increased the traffic flow capacity of the span." [GIBC-history]
HistoricBridges-toll explains why a riveted truss is rare in Michigan.
Digitally Zoomed
The 1931 free bridge provides access to the south side of the Grosse Ile. "Built 1932 on piers of Michigan Central rail bridge; rehabilitated 1980" [BridgeHunter-free] HistoricBridges-free has determined that the bridge opened on Sep 3, 1931 instead of 1932.
1932 Grosse Ile Parkway Bridge over the Trenton Channel of the Detroit River between Detroit and Grosse Ile, Michigan. The bridge is also known as the Grosse Ile Free Bridge and the Wayne County Bridge.
The bridge is a Pratt through truss swing bridge.
C Hanchey Photo via BridgeHunter-free, License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC)
Jonathan Konopka posted This is the Grosse Ile Free Bridge in Grosse Ile, MI. It is a swing bridge that was built in 1931 and carries Grosse Ile Parkway over the Trenton Channel of the Detroit River.
Photo via HistoricBridges-free "The previous bridge at this location was also a railroad truss bridge, but it was a iron Post truss. Even back when this previous bridge was replaced, it would have been an uncommon bridge as Post truss bridges were never very popular." Maddox Attales posted I see that the Grosse Ile Parkway Bridge (better known as the "free" bridge) is again closed for a long stretch [in Sep 2025]. I lived on the Island briefly during closures & don't miss that. The original bridge was a train trestle(1873) that was converted to road in 1931. I found this cool old photo.
"Intact but closed to all traffic in May 2020 for repairs" [Bridge Hunter Index] The company that owns the toll bridge must love this because the repairs took a while because it was still closed in Jan 2021. I hope these repairs include stabilizing the sinking pier that HistoricBridges-free describes. The bridge was also closed in 2007 for major repairs.
The free bridge was built before 1906, but blogspot won't let me put a "<" in the title because it doesn't know that it should convert it to "<".
1906 Wyandotte Quad @ 1:62,500
As expected, NYC/Michigan Central quit servicing Grosse Ils after the 1931 road bridge was opened. And the Trenton Channel Power Plant has been built.
1936 Rockwood and Wyandotte Quads @ 1:31,680
Taking a closer look at a satellite map, the east side of the river is basically a wet sandbar. So it is probably easier for USACE to maintain a navigation channel in the west side of the river. Or do they maintain a downbound channel on the west side and an upbound channel on the east side? This satellite image is why I wonder if they maintain two one-way channels because there is clearly a channel on the east side of Grosse Ile. No, it is not one-way travel. As detailed below, the 1992 allision with the toll bridge was downbound, whereas the 1965 allision was upbound.
I know that the west channel accommodates downbound traffic because of this photo of the 1974 705' M/V H. Lee White approaching the toll bridge. I know it is going downbound because the McLouth Steel Works is on the right side of the photo.
It is significant that the swing span in the above photo is wide open because that Laker allided with the bridge on Sep 6, 1992.
gibc-1992 Despite the magnitude of the damage caused during the September 1992 accident when the H. Lee White self-unloading bulk freighter knocked a section of the span into the river, the Toll Bridge was back in full operation by January of 1993.
The swing span is 305' long and provides two 125' "draws." The freighter was 78' wide. Two tugboats were helping to guide the freighter through the bridge. The span was open, BUT it was not opened soon enough. The bridge should have opened when signaled by the time the freighter was within 3000' of the bridge. But there were still cars spotted on the span when the freighter reached the point-of-no-return at 2000'. So the captain slammed it into reverse. I saw a ship go into emergency reverse for the Lake Street Bridge on the Chicago River. The ship turned dramatically. In other words, you loose directional control of the ship when you are in panic reverse. When the captain dropped the 13,000 pound bow anchor, he lost even more control of the direction of the ship. He almost got it stopped in time, "but its bow tapped the stationary span on the east side of the bridge. Because of the huge momentum of a ship laden with 67 million pounds of iron ore, this slight tap was enough to knock the entire 180-foot span into the water." The bridge was at fault because they did not open the draw soon enough and the captain was at fault because he should have dropped the anchor when he reversed the propeller. [caselaw]
During the 1965 allision by John T. Hutchinson, cars were still on the span that got hit. But no one was seriously hurt because people saw that the freighter was coming at them and got out of their cars and ran to safety.
Photo via gibc-1965 On August 6, 1965 the John T. Hutchinson, upbound in the Trenton Channel of the Detroit River after having unloaded taconite ore at McLouth Steel, lost steering control and struck a stationary section of the Toll Bridge. This caused the bridge section and two cars to drop into the river. Fortunately no one was seriously hurt, but the bridge was closed for several months. The Hutchinson sailed to AmShip's South Chicago yard for repairs.
I used street view to confirm that they now stop traffic before the cars get on the spans when a ship is approaching. This makes the wait time for the cars longer, but it improves the safety.
Nina Alambair posted thee photos with the comment: "Anyone remember this ? On August 6, 1965 the freighter John T. Hutchinson, up bound in the Trenton Channel of the Detroit River after having unloaded taconite ore at McLouth Steel, lost steering control and struck a stationary section of the Grosse Ile Toll Bridge. This caused the bridge section and two cars to drop into the river. Fortunately no one was seriously hurt, but the bridge was closed for several months."
Gary Dubrul: That’s the cargo the Edmond Fitzgerald was carrying 😳
Jeffrey Zanon: There was another collision in '92 or '93. I had just moved to the Island. Stop into Loyde's on Macomb. They have a picture on the wall behind the Bar.
Ted Kovoch: The bridge was hit by another freighter in 1991 knocking the east section of the bridge off its piers and into the river. I contacted the owner and gave him my business card and told him the company I worked for has the capability to repair his bridge. He put us on the bid list and we won the contract to replace the damaged section. A great crew of Ironworkers from Local 25 Detroit removed the damaged span from the river and erected a new span on a barge and floated it up river and sat it and the old piers. They completed this project in less than six months. The company that me and the Ironworkers and Operating Engineers were working for was JS Alberici a top-notch construction company out of St. Louis Missouri.
Kyle Kearney: That's my uncle's truck that's on the bridge. We have those photos hung up in our house.
1 of 7 photos posted by Andrew Dean Detroit [The free bridge is framed by the smokestacks of the Trenton Power Plant, which is soon to be torn down.]
