WATERVILLE, Ohio (WTVG) – Renovation work has begun on the Roche de Boeuf Bridge over the Maumee River, following months of effort by the Save the Bridge Association to stop its demolition.
The association brought its request to the state, which sided with the group and allowed the bridge to be preserved. The Ohio Department of Transportation is now deconstructing the bridge, removing some walls, dirt and hanging debris.
Structural concerns
ODOT has identified existing failures in the structure heading into the project.
“There are a lot of places where there’s already been failure on the structure,” said Kelsie Hoagland, public information officer for ODOT District 2. “And what we mean by that is there are spandrel walls, then like we said, those piers. And in the past, there are pressure points where we now see a lot of that dirt that’s revealed where some of those concrete slabs have fallen before. So that’s really one of our primary concerns going into this week as we begin to remove that rock and the dirt-fill, if you will, is just what’s going to happen to those walls?”…