The George V. Voinovich Bridges are two bridges in
Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
, Ohio, U.S., that carry
Interstate 90
Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain West, Great Plains, Midwest, and ...
(I-90,
Innerbelt Freeway An innerbelt or outerbelt is a ring road or collection of roadways which is or implies that it is inner or outer ring road in relation to another ring road. Use of these terms is most common and near-exclusive to routes in the United States, mostly ...
) over the
Cuyahoga River
The Cuyahoga River ( , or ) is a river located in Northeast Ohio that bisects the City of Cleveland and feeds into Lake Erie.
As Cleveland emerged as a major manufacturing center, the river became heavily affected by industrial pollution, so mu ...
. They are named for
George Voinovich
George Victor Voinovich (July 15, 1936June 12, 2016) was an American politician who served as a United States senator from Ohio from 1999 to 2011, the 65th governor of Ohio from 1991 to 1998 and the 54th mayor of Cleveland from 1980 to 1989, th ...
, former
mayor of Cleveland
The mayor of Cleveland is the head of the executive branch of Local government in the United States, government of the Cleveland, City of Cleveland, Ohio. As the chief executive in Cleveland's Mayor–council government#Strong-mayor government fo ...
,
Governor of Ohio
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
, and
United States Senator
The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...
.
The bridges'
piles
Hemorrhoids (or haemorrhoids), also known as piles, are vascular structures in the anal canal. In their normal state, they are cushions that help with stool control. They become a disease when swollen or inflamed; the unqualified term ''hemo ...
are the largest ever manufactured in the United States. Combined the bridges cost $566 million.
Predecessor
The bridges were conceived as part of the Innerbelt Freeway rebuild to replace the 1959
Innerbelt Bridge
The Innerbelt Bridge was a truss arch bridge in Cleveland, Ohio carrying Interstate 90/Innerbelt Freeway over the Cuyahoga River.
History
The bridge, completed in 1959, was in length and in width, built as the widest bridge in Ohio. The Innerb ...
, and the schedule of the project to build them was accelerated due to the deteriorating condition of the Innerbelt Bridge.
Westbound bridge
The westbound bridge was built immediately to the north of the Innerbelt Bridge. Construction on this bridge began on March 30, 2011,
with a ceremonial groundbreaking following on May 2. It opened to Ontario Street ramp traffic on November 9, 2013, had opened to other ramp traffic and I-90 westbound mainline traffic by November 17, and opened to eastbound traffic, which used the westbound bridge until the completion of the eastbound bridge, on November 23.
The bridge was dedicated to George Voinovich during the
ribbon-cutting ceremony
An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event. on November 8, 2013.
[
]
Eastbound bridge
The eastbound bridge was built in the former location of the Innerbelt Bridge.[ Early in the project, the proposed date of completion varied widely.] Construction on the bridge had begun by November 3, 2014; the bridge opened in limited capacity the evening of September 24, 2016[ after a ribbon-cutting ceremony earlier in the day,][ opening in full on October 24. This bridge was named for George Voinovich prior to the naming of the westbound bridge.]Ohio Revised Code
The ''Ohio Revised Code'' contains all current statutes of the Ohio General Assembly of a permanent and general nature, consolidated into provisions, titles, chapters and sections. However, the only official publication of the enactments of the G ...
br>5533.359
/ref>
See also
*
*
*
*
* List of crossings of the Cuyahoga River
This is a list of bridges and other crossings of the Cuyahoga River from its mouth at Lake Erie upstream to its source at Burton, Ohio. The list includes current road and rail crossings, as well as various other crossings of the river.
All locat ...
References
External links
*{{official, http://www.dot.state.oh.us/projects/ClevelandUrbanCoreProjects/Innerbelt/InnerbeltBridge/Pages/default.aspx
Bridges completed in 2013
Voinovich Voinovich, Voynovich or Vojnović (russian: Войнович) may refer to:
*Aljoša Vojnović, Croatian footballer
*Dejan Vojnović, Croatian athlete
* Đorđe Vojnović, politician from Dalmatia
* Emil Vojnović (1851–1927), Austro-Hungarian Ar ...
Interstate 90
Bridges over the Cuyahoga River
Road bridges in Ohio
Bridges on the Interstate Highway System
Steel bridges in the United States
Concrete bridges in the United States