Over the Cuyahoga River here in Cleveland rises the Columbus Road Bridge, the vertical lift bridge in front of you. This crossing is one of several movable bridges in the city and a contributing property to the Cleveland Centre Historic District. Columbus Road has hosted a bridge since 1835, when the first permanent river crossing in Cleveland was built, and the current bridge opened in 1940.
It saw a major refurbishment from 2013 to 2014. You are in downtown Cleveland’s The Flats neighborhood, 1.93 river miles (3.11 km) from the mouth of the Cuyahoga. Look at the bridge’s mainspan: a 242-foot (73.7 m) Pratt truss set between two 150-foot (46 m) lift towers.
The county owns and maintains this structure while the City of Cleveland operates it; the operator’s control room sits in the middle of the span, above the road deck, tucked within the truss. Two 175-horsepower (130 kW) electric motors live in the machine room atop the truss, and when the bridge is raised it offers 95 feet (29 m) of clearance beneath the span. Two 175-horsepower motors in the machine room raise this span 95 feet clear for you when it opens.