This bridge was replaced by the Detroit-Superior Bridge.
BridgeHunter has several images of this bridge. It is well worth a mouse click or screen tap.
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Photo from ClevelandHistorical, Image courtesy of Cleveland State Library Special Collections
A view of the viaduct shortly after it opened in 1878.
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The following photo raised the question of why does a stone viaduct just end? The short answer is that the swing span was removed after the Superior Viaduct was replaced by the Detroit-Superior High Level Bridge. As you can image, the rest of this page is the long answer.
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| Robert Pempsell posted |
The first high-level bridge across the Cuyahoga Valley was started in March 1875 and opened in Dec. 1878. Because it had a swing span, road traffic would still be stopped by some river traffic. But there would be far fewer stoppages than suffered by the low-level bridges. Plus it saved braking your buggy or wagon while going down into the valley and then the horse having to pull it back out of the valley on the other side. [ClevelandHistorical]
The artist must not have gotten the memo that the bridge would have a swing span. Or maybe he didn't want to try to paint it.
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| Photo from ClevelandHistorical, Image courtesy of Cleveland State Library Special Collections In this photograph from 1912, the center span of the Superior Viaduct has opened to a let a ship pass underneath. [Note the abundance of streetcars and the scarcity of cars in 1912. I found one car and a couple of trucks.] Steve Liegl posted a better exposure *On this date in 1910, the Cleveland Railway Co., predecessor to CTS & RTA, becomes the city's public transit system. Here's a photo from 1912 of traffic on the Superior Viaduct waiting to cross the Cuyahoga River. In the upper R corner is the Powerhouse, built in 1892, it was the 1st powerplant for providing electricity for streetcars in Cleveland. On the lower R I believe is the Detroit & Cleveland Steam Navigation Co. Bridges Now and Then shared |
The artist must not have gotten the memo that the bridge would have a swing span. Or maybe he didn't want to try to paint it.
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| Association for Great Lakes Maritime History posted A portion of a "Birds Eye View of Cleveland Ohio 1877" created by the artist A. Ruger (Image Source: Library of Congress - Geography and Map Division Collection). The map was printed by Shober & Carqueville of Chicago, Ill. and "Entered According to Act of Congress" by J.J. Stoner of Madison, Wis. An analysis of a high-resolution copy of the image shows four specific vessels in the foreground (from left to right). They include the propeller St. Paul, the steam tug P.L. Johnson, the schooner Samuel H. Foster (labelled “S.H. Foster” on its stern), and the sidewheel steamer R.N. Rice [Additional text in the description provides some history for those vessels.] |
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| Photo from ClevelandHistorical, Image courtesy of the Library of Congress The swinging, center span of the Superior Avenue Viaduct, circa 1900. |
I repeat the above photo because Francis found a better exposure.
In 1917 a higher level bridge was built so that no river traffic would impact the traffic on the bridge. The approaches are reinforced concrete arches and the 590' main span over the river is, obviously, a steel arch. The upper level was designed for four lanes of traffic and the lower level held six streetcar tracks. The streetcar deck was abandoned in 1955. The swing span was removed from the Superior Viaduct in 1923.
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| Francis Otterbein posted Swing Bridge Cleveland circa 1910. Superior Avenue viaduct over the Cuyahoga River. Thomas Wentzel posted Joe Dockrill shared Bridges Now and Then posted The Superior Avenue viaduct over the Cuyahoga River, Cleveland, Ohio, c. 1910. Click on the full size photo in the comments for all the detail. (Shorpy/Detroit Publishing/LOC) https://www.shorpy.com/node/23701?size=_original#caption Tom McCullough: Isn't this the river that was so filthy with petro and chem waste it caught fire in the late 1960s? Bridges Now and Then: Tom McCullough It's been on fire at least 13 times since 1868. The good news is it's much cleaner now. |
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| Mike Brady commented on Francis' posting Started construction 1875, opened 1878 for traffic and removed in 1923 due to a new bridge. I love this photo of it being built. Mike Brady posted Cleveland Ohio, worth sharing such a good photo, a really good one. Wow !https://clevelandhistorical.org/index.php/items/show/512… [Where was the Central Viaduct built? https://clevelandhistorical.org/index.php/items/show/512] |
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| Shorpy Gavin EspositoGavin and 279 others joined RAILROAD BRIDGES, TRESTLES, TUNNELS AND CUTS within the last two weeks. Give them a warm welcome into your community! Surprisingly enough, this bridge was the site of the worse traction railroad accident in American history. On November 16th, 1895, car #642 driven by motorman Augustus Rogers plunged into the Cuyahoga River below when the draw was mistakenly left open. Safety mechanisms were in place to prevent such accidents, a derailer switch was in place on both sides of the draw spaced 100 feet apart, the motorman would have to get out, throw the switch, and climb back on to proceed. Beyond this was a pair of gates that he also had to open, but were driven electronically once the car had passed. The power source failed that evening, resulting in the gates never closing. As car #642 approaches the draw with 25 passengers aboard, motorman Rogers motioned for conductor Edward Hoffman to get off and throw the switch; he obliged and did so. Picking Hoffmann back up the car rolled towards—and then through the gates. Falling some 101 feet into the Cuyahoga River below, it struck an abutment of the bridge and bounced into the Cuyahoga River—killing 17 of the 25 passengers |
In 1917 a higher level bridge was built so that no river traffic would impact the traffic on the bridge. The approaches are reinforced concrete arches and the 590' main span over the river is, obviously, a steel arch. The upper level was designed for four lanes of traffic and the lower level held six streetcar tracks. The streetcar deck was abandoned in 1955. The swing span was removed from the Superior Viaduct in 1923.
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| HAER OHIO,18-CLEV,22--28 (CT) via Dennis DeBruler |
Note the 1878 bridge in the background.
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| Richard Wagner posted Detroit-Superior Bridge looking north in the 1930s. Note the trolly in the lower level. Terrence Kilbane: Always called it the High Level Bridge. Bob Edwards: It was called the high level because it replaced the lower level Superior Viaduct seen behind it. At the time all of the lower level bridges needed a swing or lift section to allow ship traffic on the river. That really jammed up traffic. Thomas Wintzel shared |
This "hold Ctrl and move the mouse" Google View shows that several of the old stone arches still exist on the western side. It also shows the bridge that replaced it in the background.
It is interesting that the smaller arches under the upper deck of the eastern approach of the 1917 bridge don't appear in the above view. I captured this street view to confirm that the missing inter-deck arches are because I was pushing Google's 3D algorithm really hard to get a view of the stone arches.
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| Google Maps |
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| Street View |
Some of the arches of the 1878 bridge were removed in 1938.
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| Image courtesy of Cleveland State Library Special Collections An arch is soon to be torn down in this 1938 photograph. Several of the viaduct's arches still stand on the west side of the river. |
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| This photo has been moved to "1917,1965,1997 Detroit-Superior Bridge over Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, OH". |
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| This photo has been moved to "1917,1965,1997 Detroit-Superior Bridge over Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, OH". |
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