Maumee Bridge-Veterans' Glass City Skyway

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  • May 13, 2011

The Veterans' Glass City Skyway (formerly known as the Maumee River Crossing) is the largest single project ever undertaken by the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT). This bridge carries 6 lanes of traffic over the Maumee River.

The new bridge replaced the 4-lane Craig Memorial Bridge, which was one of a few remaining lift-span bridges on the U.S. Interstate System.

Work began on construction in March of 2002. The new bridge is 8,800 ft. long, with a 1,225-ft. main span over the Maumee River. A single 400 ft concrete pylon provides a 120-ft. vertical clearance and 400-ft. wide shipping channel for maritime traffic.

The bridge’s support structure consists of a series of 181 reinforced concrete piers constructed above 8-ft. diameter drilled shaft foundations. The foundations, some as deep as 100 ft., contain an epoxy-coated reinforcing steel cage and high-strength concrete. A minimum concrete compressive strength of 10,000 psi (69 MPa) was required for the pylon to support the dead and live loads for the main span unit and to resist significant lateral wind and ship impact loads.

Aesthetic features include in the design included glass on the pylon and feature lighting to accent the pylon and stays at night. The panels is lit internally by over 350 LED lighting fixtures, offering limitless color options to celebrate the City of Toledo's long heritage in the glass-making industry. These are to be also lit using solar electricity.

The bridge holds the world record for the largest bundle of stay cables ever successfully tested (156 strands).

The Veterans' Glass City Skyway demonstrates the strength of a truly collaborative process and will standout as a landmark bridge shining over Toledo for many years to come.