Love those bridges!

Cleveland!

Nice pics, but one correction.  They are Schweinfurth bridges.

Nice pics, but one correction.  They are Schweinfurth bridges.

 

Wow - I am an idiot.  Especially considering I was involved in a study a few years ago and I did some research on these bridges.  You would think I would have remembered the correct name.  Oh well.

 

Mods - can you change the title of the thread?  Thanks.

Some of my favorite bridges in the city!

Very nice shots.

Something I noticed over the last few years was that The Wade Park Ave. Bridge's winding staircase was closed off due to deterioration and rather than repairing a rarely used but beautiful feature, they simply removed it. Pity.

Cleveland has some awesome bridges.

Awesomeness, maybe we could attach some photos of these bridges when newly constructed, to this thread.

The winding staircase was beautiful.  Sorry to hear it was removed.  What happened to the endowment Rockefeller set aside fro maintenance of this park.  I seem to remember in the 70's the city raided the principle to do some street paving.  Was it ever restored?

Very nice shots.

Something I noticed over the last few years was that The Wade Park Ave. Bridge's winding staircase was closed off due to deterioration and rather than repairing a rarely used but beautiful feature, they simply removed it. Pity.

 

Whoa, back up a sec.  Did they really remove that staircase!?  God I hope not.  The staircase is (was?!) on the south side of the bridge, and the photos in this thread are of the north side, so can't tell from these photos.  Can someone confirm one way or the other?

 

Here's the googlemaps streetview of the bridge for reference:

 

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Cleveland,+OH&sll=41.513109,-81.603312&sspn=0.017706,0.051541&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Cleveland,+Cuyahoga,+Ohio&ll=41.515635,-81.618711&spn=0.00025,0.001611&t=h&z=20&layer=c&cbll=41.515545,-81.61871&panoid=qW17CZMzLmp8YU13xu09aw&cbp=12,24.08,,0,-5.12

 

Great subject, CS. And terrific pics too.

 

 

Whoa, back up a sec.  Did they really remove that staircase!?  God I hope not.  The staircase is (was?!) on the south side of the bridge, and the photos in this thread are of the north side, so can't tell from these photos.  Can someone confirm one way or the other?

 

When I've driven down MLK lately there is a bridge with a winding staircase that is closed to pedestrians.

There is some sort of gate(?) in front of the staircase and a sign that says it is un-usable, or some such thing.

Off the top of my head, I don't know if there are other bridges with winding staircases. If this is the only one, then it has not been removed. (It was there as of last Monday)

Your google maps pic looks like the bridge I'm talking about.

 

The staircase is still there, I think on the middle of the 3 bridges.  It is closed with a fence blocking it off.  It would be nice if it was able to be put back into service.

Cleveland!

Ink you are on such a Cleveland high!  Its hillarious!

It's hard to tell from the pictures, but the underside of the arches of (I believe all 3 of) the bridges are made of some type of thin tannish/reddish special type of brick.  I went on a bridge tour a little while back and that's what they told us, but I don't remember what the special type of brick it was.

The staircase is still there, I think on the middle of the 3 bridges. It is closed with a fence blocking it off. It would be nice if it was able to be put back into service.

 

Thank you, thank you, thank you!  Heart attack averted.

 

The staircase is on the south side of the Wade Park Avenue Ave bridge, which is the southernmost of the four stone bridges (Wade Park, Superior, St. Clair and the RR).

I took some additional pics in light of the stairway discussion and the brick on the underside of the bridges.

 

 

 

 

 

cool. it's amazing there hasn't been a uo photo thread on these bridges before!

 

the 1899 schweinfurth bridges are to cleveland what the deco-era merritt parkway bridges are to connecticut:

 

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,7795.0.html

Thanks,CS for the additional photos!  That is one sexy staircase, the way is just spills down the hill... love it. 

These bridges are so gorgeous, part of what makes Cleveland special? Do other cities have these types of bridges as well? I have seen some small pedestrian bridges that look like this here in Seattle parks designed by the Olmsted brothers but noting as large as these. 

not sure but i dont think so. you'd probably have to go to europe.

It really is too bad that the staircase is no longer in service.  I wonder what it would cost to fix it. 

 

I keep forgetting to get pictures of the northernmost bridge.  Maybe that will be my next field trip.

Gosh darn purdy!

Cute, but the name is wrong.

This is old but I noticed a few weeks ago that they were repairing the staircase. Looked like they made completely new steps out of cement.

This is from the Cleveland Planning Commission.  It shows what work is happening to restore this bridge to its former glory. They list it under wade park bridge

 

http://planning.city.cleveland.oh.us/landmark/agenda/2011/06232011/index.php

This is great news!  And looks like it's all being done the right way.  I don't think they're replacing the stone steps with concrete ones: per picture 11, the stones will be patched or replaced with new ones as needed.

This is great news!  And looks like it's all being done the right way.  I don't think they're replacing the stone steps with concrete ones: per picture 11, the stones will be patched or replaced with new ones as needed.

 

When I passed by I could have sworn I saw all cement. I remember thinking it was odd and did not fit the bridges beauty and looked out of place. Im going to have to pass by again to take a second look.

^Could it be that they laid new concrete to rebuild the structure of the staircase and are putting the stones back on top of it?

I forgot all about this thread!

 

BTW, the first bridge in this thread has a great echo if you beep your car's horn while passing under it. Note that the facade on both sides hangs down a little, keeping sound reverberating around underneath it. The echo sound is best heard in a convertible or a car with an open sun roof, but opening all of the car's windows will do if you have neither. My father drove a convertible in the late 1940s and he and his friends would always beep when passing under that bridge.

Mr. Schweinfurth was also responsible for the design of the very elegant, winding marble staircase in the Cuyahoga County Courthouse.  Next time you're in the vicinity, take a look.  It's not a straight helix, but much more sophisticated, with compound angles and subtle variations in the shape of the stones as one ascends.  Absolutely brilliant! Designed without the aid of a computer, I might add...