The Valley View Bridge is a trio of steel multi-stringer highway
girder bridge
A girder bridge is a bridge that uses girders as the means of supporting its deck. The two most common types of modern steel girder bridges are plate and box.
The term "girder" is often used interchangeably with "beam" in reference to bridge d ...
s that carry
Interstate 480 over the
Cuyahoga River
The Cuyahoga River (see ) is a river located in Northeast Ohio that bisects the City of Cleveland and feeds into Lake Erie.
As Cleveland emerged as a major manufacturing center, the river became heavily affected by industrial pollution, so mu ...
valley in
Valley View and
Independence
Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...
,
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 ...
. They are high and long.
[
]
History
The bridges opened in 1977 providing access to the nearby Willow Freeway (I-77
Interstate 77 (I-77) is a north–south Interstate Highway in the Eastern United States. It traverses diverse terrain, from the mountainous state of West Virginia to the rolling farmlands of North Carolina and Ohio. It largely supplants the ...
).
In 1999, 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 ...
painted the bridge a red-primer color, replacing the original gray.
In 2010, the bridge received the honorary name "Union Workers Memorial Bridge".
In 2011, ODOT began a project to retrofit the bridge's parapets. The work includes installing new fences and moving the overhead lighting to the outside of the structures. The estimated cost of construction was $4.4 million.[ was retained after the bridge replacement phase ended in 2022, creating a bypass of the interchanges on each end of the bridge, functioning as express lanes.][ The ]ribbon cutting
An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly constructed location or the start of an event. for the middle bridge occurred on June 12, 2023.
A pair of peregrine falcon
The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known simply as the peregrine, is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan bird of prey (raptor) in the family (biology), family Falconidae renowned for its speed. A large, Corvus (genus), cro ...
s nests under the bridge.
Accidents
The city of Valley View has jurisdiction over the bridge, and they have been assisted by the police and fire departments from Garfield Heights and Independence.
*On February 17, 1986, a driver was rescued when his semi-truck partially left the bridge.
*In February 1996, a car fell from the bridge, killing the driver.
*In March 1997, police and the fire department responded to a dangling semi-truck. The driver was safely rescued.[
*On February 22, 2011, a semi-truck driver was killed when his cab fell off the bridge.][
*On June 25, 2013, during a severe storm, a couple of highway signs fell down hitting two cars and injuring one person.
*On December 14, 2017, while attempting to elude police, a man drove down the steep embankment that separates the two spans of the bridge.]
See also
*
*
*
* List of crossings of the Cuyahoga River
* List of bridges in the United States by height
This is a list of the highest bridges in the United States by height over land or water.
Definitions
''Height'' in this list refers to the distance from the bridge deck to the lowest point on the land, or the water surface, directly below. A b ...
References
External links
*
*
{{Crossings navbox
, structure = Crossings
, place = Cuyahoga River
The Cuyahoga River (see ) is a river located in Northeast Ohio that bisects the City of Cleveland and feeds into Lake Erie.
As Cleveland emerged as a major manufacturing center, the river became heavily affected by industrial pollution, so mu ...
, bridge = Valley View Bridge
, bridge signs =
, upstream = Rockside Road
, upstream signs =
, downstream = Granger Road
, downstream signs =
Bridges on the Interstate Highway System
Bridges over the Cuyahoga River
Road bridges in Ohio
Interstate 80
Steel bridges in the United States
Girder bridges in the United States
Transportation buildings and structures in Cuyahoga County, Ohio