Interstate 470 Bridge | |
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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge is a four-lane tied arch bridge in the United States. It carries Interstate 470 over the Ohio River between Bellaire, Ohio and Wheeling, West Virginia. | |
Coordinates | 40°02′59″N80°43′51″W / 40.0498°N 80.7307°W Coordinates: 40°02′59″N80°43′51″W / 40.0498°N 80.7307°W |
Carries | 4 lanes of ![]() |
Crosses | Ohio River |
Locale | Bellaire, Ohio and Wheeling, West Virginia |
Official name | Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge |
ID number | 00000000035A123 |
Characteristics | |
Design | Tied-arch bridge |
Total length | 409 m (1,342 ft) |
Longest span | 239 m (784 ft) |
Clearance above | 21 m (69 ft) |
History | |
Construction start | 1975 |
Construction end | 1983 |
Location | |
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References | |
[1] [2] |
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge is a four-lane tied arch bridge in the United States. It carries Interstate 470 over the Ohio River between Bellaire, Ohio and Wheeling, West Virginia.
Construction on the tied-arch bridge began in 1975, and was scheduled to be completed by 1981. Frays in the vertical hanger cables delayed the opening of the bridge, which was scheduled to open in July 1981. [3] Additionally, delays in completing Ohio State Route 7 along the western shores of the river and Interstate 470 also resulted in the bridge not fully opening. [2]
The estimated cost to construct the span was about $54 million. [4]
The opening of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge, along with another bridge in nearby Moundsville was thought to have reduced the amount of traffic, and thus tolls collected by the nearby Bellaire Bridge by up to 50 percent in 1987. [5]
The National Road was the first major improved highway in the United States built by the federal government. Built between 1811 and 1837, the 620-mile (1,000 km) road connected the Potomac and Ohio Rivers and was a main transport path to the West for thousands of settlers. When improved in the 1830s, it became the second U.S. road surfaced with the macadam process pioneered by Scotsman John Loudon McAdam.
Interstate 70 (I-70) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the United States that runs from I-15 near Cove Fort, Utah, to a park and ride lot just east of I-695 in Baltimore, Maryland, and is the fifth-longest Interstate in the country. I-70 approximately traces the path of U.S. Route 40 east of the Rocky Mountains. West of the Rockies, the route of I-70 was derived from multiple sources. The Interstate runs through or near many major cities, including Denver, Topeka, Kansas City, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Columbus, Pittsburgh, and Baltimore. The sections of the Interstate in Missouri and Kansas have laid claim to be the first Interstate in the United States. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has claimed the section of I-70 through Glenwood Canyon, Colorado, completed in 1992, to be the last piece of the Interstate Highway System, as originally planned, to open to traffic. The construction of I-70 in Colorado and Utah is considered an engineering marvel, as the route passes through the Eisenhower Tunnel, Glenwood Canyon, and the San Rafael Swell. The Eisenhower Tunnel is the highest point along the Interstate Highway System, with an elevation of 11,158 feet (3,401 m).
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The Delaware Memorial Bridge is a dual-span suspension bridge crossing the Delaware River. The toll bridges carry Interstate 295 and U.S. Route 40 and is also the link between Delaware and New Jersey. The bridge was designed by the firm known today as HNTB with consulting help from engineer Othmar Ammann, whose other designs include the Walt Whitman Bridge and the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. It is also one of only two crossings of the Delaware River with both U.S. Highway and Interstate Highway designations, the other being the Benjamin Franklin Bridge.
The Wheeling Suspension Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the main channel of the Ohio River at Wheeling, West Virginia. It was the largest suspension bridge in the world from 1849 until 1851. Charles Ellet Jr. designed it and supervised construction of what became the first bridge to span a major river west of the Appalachian mountains. It linked the eastern and western section of the National Road, and became especially strategically important during the American Civil War. Litigation in the United States Supreme Court concerning its obstruction of the new high steamboat smokestacks eventually cleared the way for other bridges, especially needed by expanding railroads. Because this bridge was designed during the horse-and-buggy era, 2-ton weight limits and vehicle separation requirements applied in later years until it was closed to automobile traffic in September 2019.
Interstate 470 (I-470) is a 10.63-mile-long (17.11 km) auxiliary Interstate Highway of I-70 that bypasses the city of Wheeling, West Virginia, in the US. I-470 is one of 13 auxiliary Interstate Highways in Ohio and the only auxiliary Interstate Highway in West Virginia. The western terminus of I-470 is an interchange with I-70 in Richland Township, Ohio. Traveling southeast through rural Belmont County, I-470 approaches the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge, which spans the Ohio River. After crossing the river into Ohio County, West Virginia, the highway turns east toward the Wheeling communities of Bethlehem and Elm Grove and its eastern terminus at I-70 near Elm Grove. The portion of the highway in West Virginia is named the USS West Virginia Memorial Highway by proclamation of then-Governor Cecil H. Underwood on the 59th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
The U.S. Grant Bridge is the name of the two bridges that carry and have carried traffic on U.S. Route 23 between Portsmouth, Ohio and South Portsmouth, Kentucky across the Ohio River in the United States. The original suspension bridge was closed and demolished in 2001 and the replacement cable-stayed bridge opened on October 16, 2006.
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The High Rise Bridge is a four-lane, bascule drawbridge that Interstate 64 (I-64) uses to cross the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River. The twin spans of concrete and steel were completed in 1972, and are operated by VDOT. Currently, the High Rise Bridge is the only highway-grade toll-free crossing of the Southern Branch Elizabeth River, since the Downtown and Midtown Tunnel began tolling in 2014. Other non-interstate alternate routes include the Gilmerton Bridge on U.S. Route 13, as well as the tolled Jordan Bridge in Portsmouth.
The Ohio River Bridges Project was a transportation project in the Louisville metropolitan area involving the reconstruction of the Kennedy Interchange, the completion of two new Ohio River bridges, and the reconstruction of ramps on Interstate 65 between Muhammad Ali Boulevard and downtown Louisville.
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Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge carries the Pocahontas Parkway, signed as State Route 895, across the James River between the independent city of Richmond and Henrico County. Crossing the southernmost extremity of Richmond, it provides a connection between Henrico and the southern end of Chippenham Parkway near U.S. Route 1 in Chesterfield County, Virginia.
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The following bridges are known as the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge:
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J. E. Greiner Company was a Baltimore, Maryland-based civil engineering firm specializing in bridge design.