Veterans' Glass City Skyway facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Veterans' Glass City Skyway |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Coordinates | 41°39′35″N 83°30′47″W / 41.65972°N 83.51306°W |
| Carries | 6 lanes of  I-280 |
| Crosses | Maumee River |
| Locale | Toledo, Ohio |
| Official name | Veterans' Glass City Skyway |
| Maintained by | Ohio Department of Transportation |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | cable-stayed bridge |
| Total length | 8,800 feet (2,682 m) |
| Height | 400 feet (122 m) |
| Longest span | 612 feet (187 m) (2x) |
| Clearance above | 130 feet (40 m) |
| History | |
| Opened | June 24, 2007 |
The Veterans' Glass City Skyway, commonly called the Toledo Skyway Bridge, is a cable-stayed bridge on Interstate 280 in Toledo, Ohio. After many delays, it opened in 2007. The bridge has taken traffic and reduced delays on the Robert Craig Memorial Bridge, a bascule bridge that was, until its transfer to local control, one of the last moveable bridges on the Interstate highway system. The Skyway is Ohio Department of Transportation's (ODOT) biggest single construction project.
Information
The ODOT and the city of Toledo began planning the bridge in April 1999. The project consisted of building an 8,800 feet (2,700 m) span across the Maumee River and low-lying land on its banks. The community selected a "glass" theme for the bridge design, choosing to honor the region's heritage in the glass manufacturing industry. The bridge was designed by Figg Bridge Engineers, Inc. for ODOT.
Construction began in 2001. The main span over the Maumee River is a cable-stayed type bridge with a single pylon and two spans 612'-6" (200 m) on each side of the pylon. The main span approaches are about 4,000 feet (1,200 m) north of the river and 3,350 feet (1,020 m) south of the Maumee. The bridge opened to traffic on June 24, 2007.
The bridge carries three lanes of traffic in each direction. The road surface reaches a height of 130 feet (40 m) above the surface of the Maumee River. The bridge is the most expensive project ever undertaken by ODOT, costing about US$237 million.
The main attraction of the bridge is the single pylon which contains 384 light emitting diode (LED) fixtures that can create 16.7 million color combinations. The LEDs shine through the glass facing on all four sides of upper 196 feet of the main pylon. These lights can be visible up to 3 miles (4.8 km) away.
The bridge is one of two installations of a new cable-stayed cradle system that eliminates anchorages in the pylon by carrying the stays from anchorages in the bridge deck, through the pylon and back to anchorages in the deck. The cradle system provides many benefits during construction and over the 100+ year service life of the bridge. Each strand acts independently, allowing for the selective removal, inspection and replacement of the strands.
