Lorain–Carnegie Bridge
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The Hope Memorial Bridge (also known as the Lorain–Carnegie Bridge) is a
art deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...
truss bridge A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss, a structure of connected elements, usually forming triangular units. The connected elements, typically straight, may be stressed from tension, compression, or ...
crossing the
Cuyahoga River The Cuyahoga River (see ) 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 ...
in
Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...
. The bridge connects Lorain Avenue on Cleveland's west side and Carnegie Avenue on the east side, terminating just short of
Progressive Field Progressive Field is a baseball stadium in the downtown area of Cleveland, Ohio. It is the ballpark of the Cleveland Guardians of Major League Baseball and, together with Rocket Arena, is part of the Gateway Sports and Entertainment Complex. ...
. Four pairs of statues designed by sculptor Henry Hering and architect Frank Walker, officially named the ''Guardians of Traffic'', are sculpted onto opposite-facing ends of two pairs of pylons, a pair at each end of the
viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide ...
. They symbolize progress in transportation. Each Guardian holds a different vehicle in its hands: a hay wagon, a covered wagon, a stagecoach, and a
1930s File:1930s decade montage.png, From left, clockwise: Dorothea Lange's photo of the homeless Florence Owens Thompson, Florence Thompson shows the effects of the Great Depression; due to extreme drought conditions, farms across the south-central Uni ...
-era automobile, as well as four types of motorized trucks used for construction.


History

A bond issue to pay for the bridge was passed in 1921, but construction was delayed for years due to squabbles over how the money would be spent. The bridge was completed in 1932 at a cost of $4.75 million ($ with inflation). It stands above the river's waterline in order to allow shipping to pass unobstructed. A second, lower deck designed to carry truck and commercial traffic was never put into service. The bridge had originally been planned to go through the location of the Erie Street Cemetery on East 9th Street. The bridge was listed in the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
on October 8, 1976, after a controversy in which
Cuyahoga County Cuyahoga County ( or , see ) is a large urban county located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. The county seat and most populous city is Cleveland. As of the 2020 census, its population was 1,264,817, making it the second ...
engineer Albert S. Porter threatened to remove the historic pylons to widen the span, stating, "Those columns are monstrosities and should be torn down and forgotten. There is nothing particularly historic about any one of them. We're not running a May Show here." The bridge was renovated in the early 1980s. On September 1, 1983, the Lorain–Carnegie bridge was officially renamed the "Hope Memorial Bridge". Press reports vary regarding whom the name honors: William Henry "Harry" Hope, a local
stonemason Stonemasonry or stonecraft is the creation of buildings, structures, and sculpture using stone as the primary material. Stonemasonry is the craft of shaping and arranging stones, often together with mortar and even the ancient lime mortar ...
who helped build the ''Guardians of Traffic'' sculptures, and the father of comedian and former Cleveland resident
Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was an American comedian, actor, entertainer and producer with a career that spanned nearly 80 years and achievements in vaudeville, network radio, television, and USO Tours. He appeared ...
; Bob Hope himself; the entire Hope family; or Harry Hope along with the other workers who helped erect the ''Guardians of Traffic''. On December 10, 2012, officials opened a multi-use path on the north side of the bridge, part of a project which also added lighting to the ''Guardians of Traffic''. The inaugural Guardian Mile road race was run across the bridge on August 11, 2018. The elite field boasts multiple Olympians and $14,000 up for grabs in prize money, as well as races for runners of all ages and levels. On November 19, 2021, the Cleveland Indians of
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
changed their name to the
Cleveland Guardians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. Since , the team has played its home gam ...
; the choice was inspired by the ''Guardians of Traffic'', which neighbor Progressive Field, the team's home ballpark.


See also

* Detroit–Superior Bridge * List of bridges documented by the Historic American Engineering Record in Ohio * List of crossings of the Cuyahoga River


References


External links


Lorain–Carnegie Bridge (Cleveland Memory)
*
Hope Memorial Bridge at HLNEO
{{Cleveland Indians Art Deco architecture in Ohio Bridges completed in 1932 Bridges in Cleveland Bridges over the Cuyahoga River Historic American Engineering Record in Ohio National Register of Historic Places in Cleveland, Ohio Road bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio Truss bridges in the United States