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The Cincinnati bridge fire is reminiscent of other bridge disasters in Ohio

Posted on by Pranco
The Cincinnati bridge fire is reminiscent of other bridge disasters in Ohio

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A massive fire engulfs the Daniel Carter Beard Bridge and Interstate 471 over the Ohio River could remind Cincinnati residents of another major fire that cut through a major route between Ohio and Kentucky.

In 2020 the Brent Spence Bridge which carries Highways 71 and 75 over the Ohio River was closed for weeks after a crash that sparked a massive fire.

Here’s a look back at that disaster and other bridge fires and collapses around Ohio.

Need a detour? Fire closes Daniel Carter Beard Bridge. Here are other bridges to cross the Ohio River

Fiery crash closes Brent Spence Bridge, I-71/75, over the Ohio River for six weeks in 2020

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Brent Spence Bridge on I-75 closed after fire and crash

A boat sprays water on a torched semi on the Brent Spence Bridge early Wednesday. The fire followed a crash involving two semis. One truck transported potassium hydroxide. The bridge will be closed until it can be inspected.

Emily Rowekamp, ​​provided

On November 11, 2020, a truckload of potassium hydroxide crashed into a jackknife truck on the Brent Spence Bridge, causing a major fire that eventually fizzled out closing the span of the Ohio River for six weeks.

According to 911 calls, the Old Dominion semi driver who crashed into a jackknife truck didn’t have time to grab Hazmat paperwork before fleeing the truck, the Enquirer previously reported.

“It started on fire and I just jumped out,” he said, telling a dispatcher he couldn’t get the paperwork in time.

Big Mac bridge fire: What you need to know about Daniel Carter Beard Bridge

Neither he nor the driver of the jackknife were injured.

Repairs to the bridge include new steel support beams and new concrete sections on the upper and lower decks. The US Department of Transportation has done this $12 million in federal funds available for emergency repairs.

So is the bridge, which carries more than 160,000 vehicles per day one of the busiest freight routes in the United States, reopened on December 22, 2020.

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Tanker catches fire on state route 8 in Macedonia on Saturday

The accident closed the highway in both directions.

Tanker crash kills driver and starts fire on ramp from Route 8 to I-271 in January 2024

On Jan. 27, the driver of a diesel tanker was killed after driving off a bridge near the Interstate 271 entrance ramp from State Route 8 north of Akron.

The truck, carrying 7,500 liters of diesel fuel, exploded and caused a massive fire that closed the bridge for a few days. This was reported by the Akron Beacon Journal. The bridge was reopened after inspections showed that the damage did not affect the structural integrity of the bridge.

Miamitown Bridge collapses during flooding in Cincinnati on May 26, 1989

A temporary bridge over the Great Miami River collapsed during widespread flooding on May 16, 1989. media reportssending four cars into the water. At least two people drowned, WCPO reported.

According to WCPO, the National Transportation Safety Board issued a report in November 1990 that blamed the Hamilton County Engineer’s Office for three factors that contributed to the bridge collapse. These include:

  • Selection of a design from National Engineering, the company that built the bridge, which did not take lateral loads into account
  • Failure to submit bridge design plans to the Ohio Department of Transportation for review as required by state law
  • Failure to immediately close the bridge when it became subject to significant debris loads

The Silver Bridge span from Gallipolis collapses into the Ohio River on December 15, 1967

The Silver Bridge spanned the Ohio River from Gallipolis to Point Pleasant, West Virginia. Opened to traffic in 1928, the bridge was the first bridge in the country to use an innovative eyebar suspension system instead of a traditional wire rope suspension. West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

However, one of those eyeballs had a small, invisible defect. The failed eyebar eventually cracked and began to corrode, out of sight of the public or bridge inspectors. At around 5pm on December 15 – during rush hour – the eyebar failed, causing a series of other failures that caused the bridge to collapse. Thirty-one vehicles plunged into the Ohio River, killing 46 people.