Summit County, OH
The Great Lakes Construction Co. formed a Joint Venture with The Ruhlin Company to replace the Ohio Department of Transportation’s SR-8 bridge over the Little Cuyahoga River Valley in Akron, OH. This project modernized Akron’s critical SR-8 corridor by replacing the 1953 era “fracture critical” structure comprised of three under truss spans and five girder spans with two, six span, 1,600’ long continuous girder bridges. Each bridge provided an additional lane and two full width shoulders, greatly improving safety and traffic flow for the 120,000 daily vehicles that travel the corridor. Limited access along the valley’s southern slope due to seven railroad tracks, an overhead electric transmission line that travels underneath the bridge, the Little Cuyahoga River, and an active E North St. considerably impacted the design and constructability of this project. For the first (and second) time in Ohio, each bridge’s eight million pounds of structural steel were incrementally launched across the valley. A “launch pit” at the north end of each bridge was constructed to allow for erection of structural steel at ground level. After each span was connected to the tail of the previously erected frame, hydraulic cylinders were used to launch the structural steel to rest on the next pier. Each bridge’s substructure consists of 54” diameter drilled shafts, 14” and 16” diameter CIP pipe piling, and 15,000 CY of structural concrete (including 7,000 CY of mass concrete) to carry SR-8 approximately 160’ above the Little Cuyahoga River Valley.
Also included in this project was the realignment of SR-8 on each end of the structures. The associated 55,000 CY of excavation, 67,000 CY of embankment, 5,900 LF of storm sewer, 79,000 SF of noise barrier, and 67,000 SF of concrete ramp pavement ties the existing roadway into the new twin-bridge layout.
Another key feature of this project was the explosive demolition of two of the existing structure’s under truss spans. After an eight-month material delay and many schedule mitigation efforts between the Ruhlin-Great Lakes team and ODOT, this major milestone was successfully completed in late September of 2026.
Ohio's SR 8 Bridge Replacement Under Way After Three-Year Delay
The January 30, 2024 - Midwest Edition #3
Lori Tobias - CEG Correspondent
After a three-year delay, construction crews have begun clearing land and moving dirt on the $158 million Akron, Ohio, SR 8 bridge replacement project.
"Project design was essentially complete when statewide funding priorities changed due to the pandemic-related economic shortfalls," said Ramon Marsch, spokesman of the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT). "This project was initially scheduled to go out to bid in 2020 but was pushed back. The bridge was fine. There were no safety issues, so we were able to push it back safely."
Read more HERE
Old Route 8 Bridge Demolition