The Ohio Dept. of Transportation is preparing to implement emergency repairs on the Daniel Carter Beard Bridge, which was recently damaged by an early morning fire below its southbound approach.

The 1,300-ft-long twin tied-arch bridge, which carries a total of eight lanes of Interstate 471 over the Ohio River between Cincinnati and Newport, Ky., was originally completed in 1976 and most recently inspected Aug. 31, according to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC). Its average daily traffic count was about 51,000 in 2023.

Firefighters responding to a report of a fire at about 3:20 a.m. on Nov. 1 found a playground burning under the bridge at Sawyer Point Park, which runs along the riverfront in Cincinnati. The cause has not yet been determined. 

At least three steel beams will need to be replaced, as will an area of the bridge deck and an overhead sign truss, says Matt Bruning, press secretary with the Ohio Dept. of Transportation (ODOT). The southbound lanes are temporarily closed, as is the left northbound lane. 

The team used drones and a dog-style robot equipped with a Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) scanner to assess damage, though a full assessment will follow once shoring towers are installed, Bruning says. 

“Once they get that done, we’ll be able to get up there and get a closer look, safely be able to do a full inspection that will inform our decisions on what exactly needs to be repaired, what quantities of things we’ll need to have to make those repairs,” he says.

ODOT hired Hinckley, Ohio-based The Great Lakes Construction Co. to perform the emergency repairs. And while Bruning says a cost estimate is not yet available, Gov. Mike DeWine declared a state of emergency in Hamilton County, enabling ODOT to use Federal Emergency Relief Program funding for the work. 

So far, crews have mostly been focused on preparing footers and placing a 3-ft-thick concrete pad for the shoring towers, which the contractor found in New Jersey, to stabilize the damaged section. But their first task was to install perimeter fencing, as Bruning says pedestrians using the park had been moving barricades and walking through closed areas.

Ongoing Repair Project

KYTC has a separate maintenance project underway. Photo cropped from the original by Warren LeMay/CC BY-SA 2.0

Coincidentally, KYTC has an ongoing repair project on the bridge’s main span, which was not damaged by the fire. The preventative maintenance project is being done now to ensure the Daniel Carter Beard Bridge, also known as the Big Mac Bridge by locals due to its side-by-side “golden” arches, is in good condition ahead of the upcoming Brent Spence Bridge Corridor project, which will involve building a new bridge carrying Interstate 71 and 75 across the Ohio River beside another existing bridge about a mile downstream. 

Lexington, Ky.-based Intech Contracting LLC is replacing expansion stringer bearings, cleaning and repairing concrete barriers and arch hangers, replacing elastomer seals and hatches at the top of the arch and repairing some piers under a $4.2-million contract with KYTC. 

With the southbound lanes closed for the emergency repairs on the southbound approach, KYTC said Intech would expedite work on the southbound side without needing to worry about traffic controls. Officials now say the project will complete ahead of schedule within the next few weeks.

ODOT does not currently have an estimate for when the emergency repairs will be complete, though they are looking to move quickly—traffic “has been horrendous,” Bruning says. The timeline will likely be determined by how long it takes for materials such as the replacement beams to arrive.

“We'll get this open as quickly as we can, and get everybody back on their way,” Bruning says.