These days Steubenville, Ohio is better known as a city of people who do not have their priorities straight, one where football trumps justice. But Steubenville has a history as a working city nestled on the upper reaches of the Ohio River. Even today it is impossible to be anywhere in Steubenville without seeing steel mills or power plants somewhere along the skyline. Come to think of it, it’s recently been postulated that lead exposure is correlated with increased crime. But I’m not writing this post to crucify the folks of Steubenville, most of who are likely very kind, hardworking, and upstanding individuals. Rather, I’d like to talk about a bridge.
If you talk to me, you’d think all bridges are important. On one hand, a location has to be considered pretty special in order for the cost of constructing a bridge to be worth it. On the other hand, especially in the present day, most of the structures tend to be pretty cookie-cutter. This is an issue I will take up in a future post where, even though you can’t see it in a blog, you’ll realize I am actually a feisty, fiery redhead. The Market Street Bridge connecting Steubenville with West Virginia Route 2 between Weirton and Follansbee is a story of restoration after the bridge fell into extreme disrepair.
My first memory of the Market Street Bridge, a steel suspension bridge, was on a late-night spontaneous road trip from Pittsburgh, where I was a student at Chatham University. The bridge had an open-grate deck, numerous weight limit and other warning signs, and it generated a cacophony of sounds as my friend’s Honda Accord crossed over the bridge. In retrospect, it may have been a warning. Not 30 minutes later a deer t-boned the car. If anyone else has had a vehicle-deer encounter shortly after crossing the bridge, let me know if the bridge spoke to you. Anyhow, not long after this harrowing late night experience the bridge was temporarily closed for restoration.
The bridge was originally built in 1905 for the primary purpose of moving pedestrian and streetcar traffic across from Steubenville to, what was then, the Wheeling Pittsburgh Steel Coke Works. The placement of the coke works is actually somewhat funny in that the site across from Steubenville was selected because there was no alternative place available that was more convenient to already-populated areas. In a way, it spurred early sprawl.
By the 1940s the bridge had been purchased by the State of West Virginia. During this decade the bridge was retrofitted to be more suitable to passenger cars. As in much of the United States, the street car business was breathing its final breaths. To reduce the weight of the bridge the deck was replaced with an open grate in the 1950s, which has been replaced once since. Swapping from a paved to open grate is considered one of the easier and less expensive ways to reduce the weight of the bridge so, hopefully, severe vehicle weight limits can be avoided (or the bridge can simply bear enough weight it is permitted to remain open).
The Market Street Bridge was closed to traffic in 2009 after inspections found it was just not safe enough anymore. It reopened in December 2011. Visiting the bridge again in July 2011 and October 2011 it was found that much of the work done to the bridge was for the purpose of stabilization. There are some beams that are rusted through, for example, but have been treated to avoid continued rusting. It is unclear how long these repairs will last. But the blue towers and cable coupled with the gold trusses is eye catching. If you visit at night you’re also in for a treat, the bridge has very well done decorative lighting that shines beautifully.
The Market Street Bridge in July 2011, one of the towers was still being painted and sandblasted
The Market Street Bridge is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places because it was the first non-rail bridge to cross the Ohio in this region and helped develop the communities on both sides of the river. It is not currently listed. While the near future of this bridge is quite secure, it would not be unreasonable for WVDOT to consider demolition in the coming few decades because of the population decline on both sides of the river. Demolition of the bridge would certainly remove part of the identity of the region, as the main crossing in the area, the Veteran’s Memorial Bridge, which opened in 1990, just lacks the character of the older span. Part of what likely spared the Market Street Bridge was the condition of the Fort Steuben Bridge a few miles upriver. That bridge was demolished in 2012, reducing the number of public Steubenville/Weirton area river crossings to two from three.
For a more detailed history of the bridge, I strongly encourage you to read this wonderful .pdf put together by contributors to Historic Bridges. This document also includes several citations that not only are chock full of information on this bridge, but other bridges with identity and character.
For more detailed photos of the bridge in July and October 2011, Brian Powell has a flickr set that can be found here.
Topiary Park in Downtown Columbus
