Few American cities can claim a landmark as distinctive as Cincinnati's Suspension Bridge. The Covington and Cincinnati Bridge, in 1984 renamed after designer John A. Roebling, and all the while called by locals simply "The Suspension Bridge" has been a symbol of the city since its opening December 1, 1866.  Images of the bridge can be seen today in all parts of the city hanging in homes, offices, restaurants, bars, waiting rooms, and as backdrops for the local television news.  More than just a nostalgic decoration, the old bridge remains an important river crossing for thousands of cars and buses each day.

Cincinnati was the first major city in the Northwest Territory, or what is today known as the Midwest.  Its 1850 population of 115,435 ranked sixth in the United States and far ahead of nearby St. Louis (77,860) and Chicago (29,963).  Its cross-river neighbors of Covington and Newport were home to 20,000 more residents, and as ferry traffic increased, the necessity of a bridge became apparent.  The 1849 charter issued by the state of Ohio required no piers in the river, a length of 1,400ft., and a deck clearance of 112ft.  By the time construction started in 1856, a new charter eased the specifications, shortening the required length to 1,000ft. and height to 100ft.  The ensuing period of construction stretched over a decade, interrupted by financial shortages and the Civil War, during which the city and unfinished bridge were under threat of attack.  The bridge was completed in December 1866, and the 1,057ft. main span was at that time the longest in the world, surpassing the Wheeling, WV suspension bridge (1849).  Not only was the Cincinnati Suspension Bridge the world's longest, but it was also the first to utilize both vertical suspenders and diagonal stays fanning from either tower.  This advance was next seen on the Brooklyn Bridge (also designed by John Roebling), which surpassed the Cincinnati bridge in length and almost every other statistical category in 1883.

Due to inflation during and after the Civil War, the original iron and oak deck was built as cheaply as possible. In 1894 tracks were laid across the deck but street cars were limited to a "walking" 1.5mph speed limit. Therefore in 1896 a complete rebuilding of the bridge deck was undertaken. While the original deck had been built cheaply, the stone towers were overbuilt and were capable of carrying a much heavier load. Therefore a second set of 10.5" main cables, a wider steel truss deck (a 4 track deck was even briefly considered, with outside tracks curving around the towers), and an extension of the northern approach were included in this project. In order to keep the bridge open and maintain the 100ft. height requirement, the old deck was jacked up several feet on its suspenders while work proceeded above, below, and around it. The new deck was built around the old deck from the towers towards the center, first hung from the new main cables, and then transferred over to the elaborate 4 cable arrangement seen today. The reconstruction significantly altered the appearance of the bridge, but allowed it to remain useful in the 20th century, with a 30 ton weight limit.

Recent aerial view of the bridge.  (Larry Stulz photo)

In the 1920's a pair of ramps were constructed from the north end of the Suspension Bridge to Dixie Terminal, an ornate 10 story office building located at the southwest corner of 4th & Walnut St.  The ramps provided Covington trolleys with a grade separated route to the center of downtown, and the terminal building was originally intended to to connect, via underground pedestrian passages, with the never-built Fountain Square Station of the infamous Cincinnati subway.  Since Cincinnati had an unusual 2-wire street car system (enforced by a city ordinance) versus the standard single overhead wire and track ground arrangement of Covington, cars had to raise a second pole when the northern end of the bridge was reached before entering the building. After street car service ceased, the ramps were rebuilt in the late 1950's for diesel bus service. These ramps were torn down in summer 1998 as reconstruction of Ft. Washington Way began, and bus service stopped using the terminal. The old street car and bus turnaround floor is now a valet parking garage operated by Olympic Auto Park, which also operates two small garages adjacent to the building.  Kentucky buses still use the Suspension Bridge heavily, however they now run a short route through downtown Cincinnati.

1920's view from the north tower, looking north towards Dixie Terminal.

The originally Spanish brown bridge was painted blue in 1896 and decorative lights were installed along the main cables in 1984. The tower's domed steel cable saddles, a fixture since the 1896 rebuilding, were replaced by replicas of the original turrets in the early 1990's. A toll was collected up until the Brent Spence Bridge opened in 1963. The bridge was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975 and because of its still important central location remains the busiest of Cincinnati's four non-expressway automobile bridges.

The bridge has withstood countless storms, floods, and barge collisions, and has outlived several nearby bridges built after it. When and if it can no longer carry vehicular traffic, the local governments will surely muster whatever money necessary to keep it standing, at the very least as a pedestrian bridge. But that day is still decades, if not hundreds of years away.  The bridge was last closed for major repairs in 1969, so it will likely be due for serious work within the next 20 years. It was most recently painted in 1980, and will be repainted in 2005 or 2006.

View of central riverfront in October 2000 looking east from Elm St.

The flood plain to either side of the Suspension Bridge's northern approach is currently one of the largest urban construction sites in the United States.  An industrial area and railroad yard up through the mid 1900's, the city had been unable to develop the riverfront because of the immense cost associated with either raising the entire flood plain with fill dirt or building everything atop multi-deck parking garages.  After languishing as a periodically flooded parking lot for several decades, a local tax adopted in 1996 triggered the complete reconstruction of the area.  The last warehouses, railroad tracks, and vestiges of the old industrial riverfront were cleared in 1998 and the area has been the site of constant heavy construction activity since.  When the entire project is finished in the upcoming decade, it will include two new sports stadiums, a rebuilt eight-lane expressway with 1,200ft. tunnel, eight new city blocks built atop a combination of multi-deck parking garages and fill, an underground special event bus staging terminal with a 100 bus capacity,  a national museum, and a 50+ acre park centered around the Suspension Bridge approach.

View of the former Riverfront Stadium site from the bridge's north tower.
[January 2004 Jake Mecklenborg]

As of January 2004 the Suspension Bridge has been made temporarily one-way, southbound only.  Its approach at Theodore Berry Way is being reconstructed and will be greatly improved by this upcoming summer.  In 2004 the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center and Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame will open and the extensions of Main St., Walnut St., and Theodore Berry Way will be completed.
 

1. Historic Suspension Bridge Photos

2. Recent Suspension Bridge Photos

News Archive
6/12/01 Cincinnati Enquirer Bridge Lovers: Say bye to Blue
3/25/99 Cincinnati Post Bridging the Century

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