Martin Luther King Bridge
Martin Luther King Memorial Bridge over the Maumee River in Toledo Ohio.
Coordinates41°39′09″N 83°31′40″W / 41.6526°N 83.5278°W / 41.6526; -83.5278
CrossesMaumee River
Official nameMartin Luther King Bridge
Other name(s)Cherry Street Bridge
Characteristics
Total length1,100 feet (340 m)
No. of lanes4 (after 2001)
History
DesignerArnold W. Brunner
Engineering design byOsborn Engineering
Built1914
Construction end1914
Rebuilt2001
Location

The Martin Luther King Memorial Bridge (formerly Cherry Street Bridge) is a double-leaf bascule bridge adjacent to downtown Toledo, Ohio, where Cherry Street crosses the Maumee River to become Main Street on the east side of the city. The structure opened to traffic in 1914.

History

Image of the Cherry Street Bridge with drawbridges up from a postcard
Cherry Street Bridge (now Martin Luther King Bridge) with draw open, 1917

In 2001 the bridge started what was to have been a $31 million USD refurbishment. This refurbishment widened the bridge's four lanes and added pedestrian walkways. The bridge's original control towers were replaced with new towers, modeled after the originals.

When originally built, the streetcars operated by the Toledo Railways & Light Company shared the bridge with motor vehicles.[1] The technique employed to keep the streetcar's power wire taut when in use, yet allowing the bridge to be raised, was considered innovative and was copied in similar bridges.[2] The bridge's original deck was an open metal mesh.[3]

The bridge was designed by Arnold W. Brunner and built by Osborn Engineering.[4][5][6][7] The bridge, including its approaches, is 1,100 feet (340 m) long. It is located a mile upstream from the Veterans' Glass City Skyway where Interstate 280 crosses the river.[8]

References

  1. ↑ Electric railway journal, Volume 42. McGraw Hill. 1913. p. 967. Retrieved 2012-05-22. A novel arrangement for taking up slack in the trolley wire over a bascule bridge when the span is raised has been installed by the Toledo Railways & Light Company on the Cherry Street bridge at ...
  2. ↑ Electrical world: a review of current progress in electricity and its practical applications, Volume 62. W.J. Johnston. 1913. p. 999. Retrieved 2012-05-22. A novel arrangement for taking up slack in the trolley wire when the bascule span is raised is in successful use on the new Cherry Street bridge at Toledo, Ohio. In the design of this structure ...
  3. ↑ Arthur Hastings Grant, Harold Sinley Buttenheim (1939). The American city, Volume 54. Buttenheim Publishing. p. 43. Retrieved 2012-05-22. THE CHERRY STREET BASCULE BRIDGE, TOLEDO, OHIO, WHERE OPEN-MESH BRIDGE DECKING REDUCED THE WIND RESISTANCE ...
  4. ↑ "The American city, Volume 11". American City Magazine Corporation. 1914. Retrieved 2012-05-22. The Ohio bridge was designed by Arnold W. Brunner, architect, and Ralph Modjeski, consulting engineer.
  5. ↑ The Bridgemen's magazine, Volume 5 Authors International Association of Bridge and Structural Iron Workers, International Association of Bridge, Structural, and Ornamental Iron Workers. The Association. 1905. Retrieved 2012-05-22. The Osborn Eng. Co., of Cleveland, has been selected to prepare the plans for a new bridge across Maumee River at Cherry street. The structure will be about 1100 feet long and 70 or 80 feet wide, and will consist of ...
  6. ↑ George W. Hilton (1997). "The Toledo, Port Clinton and Lakeside Railway". Montevallo Historical Press. p. 12. ISBN 9780965862400. Retrieved 2013-01-22.
  7. ↑ Kirk F. Hise, Edward J. Pulhuj (2005). "Toledo Railroads: Images of Rail". Arcadia Publishing. pp. 9, 15, 31, 45–51, 53, 91–92, 108. ISBN 9780738533919. Retrieved 2013-01-22.
  8. ↑ "Refurbished King bridge will be a mirror of itself Engineer says". Toledo Blade. 2001-12-07. p. 13. Retrieved 2012-05-22.

41°39′09″N 83°31′40″W / 41.652626°N 83.527814°W / 41.652626; -83.527814

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