Charles Berry Bridge Wins Historic Bridge Preservation Award

August 16, 2021

The Charles Berry Bridge project recently was awarded the 2021 Historic Bridge Preservation Award from the County Engineers Association of Ohio. The award was bestowed at the Association’s annual Bridge Conference on August 10th at the Columbus Marriott Northwest in Dublin, Ohio.

H&H provided rehabilitation design to replace machinery and electrical systems, strengthen main members to meet HS20 load capacity, wearing surface replacement, replacement of roadway lighting and traffic gates, steel and concrete repairs, and repairs to the bridge houses and fenders.

The Charles Berry Bascule Bridge was built in the late 1930s and opened to traffic on October 12, 1940. At the time of its construction, it was the world’s largest bascule bridge. It is now the world’s second-largest. The 1,052-foot bridge has a bascule span of 333 feet and carries four lanes of U.S. 6/Erie Avenue over the Black River, at the City of Lorain’s port to Lake Erie, and averages 700 openings per year. The bridge, previously known as The Erie Avenue Bridge, was renamed on Veteran’s Day 1988 in honor of Charles Berry, a Marine from Lorain who lost his life in the Battle of Iwo Jima and was awarded The Congressional Medal of Honor.

Congratulations to Ohio DOT D3 and all our partners on this important project.

Photo Courtesy of Ohio DOT