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Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Bridge #464, Cleveland, Ohio
If you happen to be visiting the west bank of the Flats, along the winding Cuyahoga River, in the heart of Cleveland, Ohio, you have an opportunity to get a truly ‘hands-on’ experience with one of the most impressive of bascule bridges of the early 20th Century.
A bascule bridge is any bridge in which a portion is raised by a counterweighted portion being lowered. This massive steel structure, erected by the King Bridge Company of Cleveland in 1907, stands anchored in its lifted position, just outside the entrance doors to the popular Shooter’s on the Water restaurant. Within just a short walk from your parked car, you can reach out and touch the corroding and ivy-covered ballast portion of this engineering marvel of old.
The total length of this trussed steel structure, now raised at an upright angle, is 334 feet. Its primary span over the Cuyahoga River was 210 feet, across which it carried a single set of railroad tracks. Its fabrication was of riveted steel in a warren truss configuration. The bridge truss is of the ‘through’ variety, meaning the rail traffic actually traveled through the center of an open 4-faceted truss.
A companion to this bridge — Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Bridge #463, also a riveted steel, warren truss, bascule bridge — also rises in a fixed erect position slightly farther upriver and around a Cuyahoga bend or two. Still another Baltimore & Ohio Railroad bridge (again a riveted steel, warren truss, bascule bridge) still serves railway traffic for CSX crossing the river.
- Cleveland's Cuyahoga River
Cleveland's Cuyahoga River Key to its founding as well as its future, the Cuyahoga River is the heart of Cleveland. In 1796, the city’s founder, Moses Cleaveland, first stepped ashore with his original surveying party, less than a half-mile from... - Cleveland's Flats District
The low-lying or 'flat' area of the downtown Cleveland core, along the Cuyahoga River was the first area settled, and is still vibrant today. - Cleveland's Settlers Landing
Settlers Landing, Cleveland, Ohio In mid-summer of 1796 â just two decades after the United States had declared its independence from Great Britain â the estimable Moses Cleaveland led a colonial surveying team as they disembarked onto the... - The Western Reserve Building, Cleveland, Ohio
This structure is one of Cleveland's first true high-rises, constructed of senstively detailed multi-color brown brick and sizable windows. - Cleveland's Power House
Having been repurposed several times, this historic power house is now home to the walk-through shark tank of the new Nautica Aquarium. - Tour Cleveland's lakefront (and riverfront)
If you're traveling to the Forest City, you might want to check out any of these sights strung along the Lake Erie shoreline and the banks of the Cuyahoga throughout downtown Cleveland. - Nautica Pavilion, Cleveland, Ohio
Nautica Pavilion, Cleveland, Ohio Situated below the Cleveland skyline, on the western bank of the Cuyahoga River, the Nautica Pavilion offers a unique and enjoyable summer entertainment venue. The Nautica Pavilion was developed as a component of... - Cleveland's Nautica Queen
The Nautica Queen, Cleveland, Ohio Each year from the end of March through December, The Nautica Queen offers a unique view of the all the attractions of Cleveland from the Cuyahoga River and Lake Erie. The Nautica Queen departs from the west bank... - The Flats' Industrial Heritage, Cleveland, Ohio
Industry in the Flats, Cleveland, Ohio Long before Cleveland’s Flats were abuzz with nightlife, concerts, bar-hopping and fine dining, they served as the industrial and shipping core of the city. And long before revelers criss-crossed the Cuyahoga...