WORK BEGINS ON BASCULE BRIDGE

Lanes restricted; job to last into 2019

Construction has begun on one of Lorain’s landmark bridges over the Black River.

The Ohio Department of Transportation is overseeing the repair job for the Charles Berry Bascule Bridge.

Crews began working on the bridge May 21.

The contract was awarded to the Ruhlin Co. of Sharon Center.

The project cost is $26.3 million and reconstruction will last through the end of 2019.

On May 18, ODOT announced U.S. 6, which also is Erie Avenue, will be reduced to one lane of traffic for bridge repairs to the Bascule Bridge.

The road will be reduced to one lane between Washington and Arizona avenues., according to ODOT.

Inside lanes in both directions will be closed as crews begin working on the yellow median in the center of the bridge.

Crews also will begin work on the girder underneath the structure, according to ODOT.

The transportation agency’s District 3 website has a page dedicated to the project, which includes “complete replacement of the operating

machinery for the bascule spans.”

New machinery will have a predicted life of 50 years based on an average 1,500 bridge openings a

year, according to ODOT.

Old machinery will be removed, but a temporary operating system will be installed so the bridge spans can be raised or lowered while the permanent operating system is replaced, according to ODOT.

ERIC BONZAR — THE MORNING JOURNAL A crew from Richfield-based American Roadway Logistics Inc. marks out lanes May 21, 2018, on the Charles Berry Bascule Bridge over the Black River in Lorain. Traffic on the bridge was reduced to one lane in both directions as the $26.3 million...

ERIC BONZAR — THE MORNING JOURNAL James Peavey, of Richfield-based American Roadway Logistics Inc., gives a thumbs-up May 21, 2018, as he and his fellow crew members mark out lanes on the Charles Berry Bascule Bridge.