Main Avenue Bridge

The Main Avenue (Harold H. Burton Memorial) Bridge (alternately Main Avenue Viaduct^[2]) is a cantilever truss bridge in Cleveland, Ohio carrying Ohio State Route 2/Cleveland Memorial Shoreway over the Cuyahoga River.^[3] The bridge, completed in 1939, is 8,000 feet (2,400 m) in length, and was the longest elevated structure in Ohio^[4] until the 2007 completion of the Veterans' Glass City Skyway in Toledo. It was named for Harold H. Burton, 45th mayor of Cleveland, in late January 1986.^[5] The bridge replaced an 1869 bridge at the same site,^[4] and was built in conjunction with construction of the Cleveland Memorial Shoreway.^[6]

Main Avenue Bridge Looking West, Cleveland, Ohio vintage postcard

Main Avenue Bridge
Main Avenue Bridge, as viewed from the Flats, 1999.
Coordinates	41°29′55″N 81°42′18″W
Carries	OH 2
Crosses	Cuyahoga River
Locale	Cleveland, Ohio
ID number	1800035
Characteristics
Design	Metal-Riveted Cantilever Deck Truss, Stationary[1]
Total length	6,580 feet (2,010 m) 8,000 feet (2,400 m) including ramps [1]
Width	82 feet (25 m)
Longest span	120 m
Clearance above	100 feet (30 m) (over river)
Clearance below	96 feet (29 m)
History
Construction end	1939
Opened	1939
Location

The bridge received extensive renovations 1991–1992;^[4][7] it subsequently received major structural repairs in 2007^[8] and again in 2012–2013, both instances necessitating re-routing of large vehicles.^[9][10][11]

The bridge is visible at the end of the "Cleveland Rocks" version of the opening credits of The Drew Carey Show.^[12]

In 2013, the Federal Highway Administration listed the Main Avenue Bridge as "structurally deficient" and "fracture critical".^[13]

^[14]

The bridge has been designated as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers.^[15]

See also

• List of crossings of the Cuyahoga River