The Charles Berry Bridge is a double leaf

bascule bridge A bascule bridge (also referred to as a drawbridge or a lifting bridge) is a moveable bridge with a counterweight that continuously balances a span, or leaf, throughout its upward swing to provide clearance for boat traffic. It may be single- o ...

Lorain, Ohio Lorain () is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States. It is located in Northeast Ohio on Lake Erie, at the mouth of the Black River (Ohio), Black River about west of Cleveland. It is the List of cities in Ohio, ninth-most populous city in O ...

along Erie Avenue /

U.S. Route 6 U.S. Route 6 (US 6) or U.S. Highway 6 (US 6), also called the Grand Army of the Republic Highway, honoring the American Civil War veterans association, is a main route of the United States Numbered Highway System. While it ...

(US 6) and spans the Black River. The Erie Avenue Bridge (as it was formerly called)A Brief History: The Charles Berry Bascule Bridge

Lorain County, Ohio Lorain County () is a county in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Ohio As of the 2020 census, the population was 312,964. Its county seat is Elyria, and its largest city is Lorain. The county was physically established in 1822, beco ...

. Retrieved May 20, 2013. was built in 1940 by the Mount Vernon Bridge Company. It was in use for roughly 48 years before extensive rehabilitation was finished. The bridge was officially renamed in 1988 and dedicated in honor of Lorain native Charles J. Berry, a Marine who was awarded the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...

for his actions during a minor grenade battle on

Iwo Jima is one of the Japanese Volcano Islands, which lie south of the Bonin Islands and together with them make up the Ogasawara Subprefecture, Ogasawara Archipelago. Together with the Izu Islands, they make up Japan's Nanpō Islands. Although sout ...

. The bridge is thought to be the second longest bascule bridge in the world, with sources citing that it was considered the longest at the time of construction. Some sources argue that this designation is challenging to confirm because of the different styles of bascule bridges and methods in how they are measured, with conflicting information existing on which bridges are the longest and why from different sources. The

Ohio Department of Transportation The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT; ) is the administrative department of the government of Ohio, Ohio state government responsible for developing and maintaining all state and U.S. roadways outside of municipalities and all List of In ...

(ODOT) agreed in 1989 to cover funding for the bridge which saves Lorain county nearly half a million

US dollars The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...

per year. The Charles Berry Bridge is one of only three bridges in

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

that the ODOT will currently fund. The Charles Berry Bridge is one of the primary methods of transportation between the east and west of Lorain across Black River along with the Lofton Henderson Memorial Bridge which is also named after a native of Lorain who was awarded the Navy Cross for his heroism at the historic Battle of Midway.

References

External links

{{Commons category
Official website
Bascule bridges in the United States Buildings and structures in Lorain, Ohio Bridges completed in 1988 Transportation in Lorain County, Ohio Road bridges in Ohio U.S. Route 6 Bridges of the United States Numbered Highway System

See also

References

External links