CINCINNATI — There's still no timeline for when lanes closed on the Daniel Carter Beard Bridge, also known as the Big Mac Bridge, can reopen after a fire seriously damaged the structure, ODOT told Cincinnati city council members Tuesday morning.
Ohio Department of Transportation officials gave an update to city council after assessments revealed the fire caused more damage to the bridge than initially believed.
ODOT District 8 Deputy Director Tammy Campbell said crews are working as fast as they can, but that bridge sample testing results will be key to establishing a timeline for when repairs can be made.
Some of those results came in Monday, when officials learned the fire "went more into the bridge than we originally thought," Campbell said.
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Cincinnati Department of Transportation and Engineering (DOTE) Director John Brazina told council he still hasn't heard from the Cincinnati Fire Department on the investigation into the fire, which ignited a wooden and rubber playground beneath the bridge. Campbell added it may take a few weeks for the investigation to deliver any answers.
So far, ODOT officials still don't know how much repairs to the Big Mac Bridge will cost, nor do they know when they'll be able to begin tackling the issues that have forced the southbound side of I-471 to close on the bridge.
Investigators are still completing material testing to determine the limits of the damage; Brazina said officials initially thought the bulk of the damage was to the outside structure of the bridge, but they now believe there is more damage in the center — and possibly a fourth beam that could need replacing.
Campbell told city council that officials should know more about the extent of the damage "closer toward the end of this week."
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Still, when asked by Council Member Mark Jeffreys whether I-471 south will be closed for weeks or months, Campbell said the agency doesn't yet know.
ODOT presented steps it plans to take moving forward to fix the bridge, but said there is still no exact timeline for when those steps can be taken. Beginning this week, though, officials said they plan to remove the damaged sign truss from the bridge — after which, the final closed lane on I-471 NB will be able to re-open.
Moving forward, ODOT said it is working on a demolition plan, which requires additional temporary shoring of the bridge. From there, material and fabrication of the beams that need replacing can be completed.
Then, ODOT says it needs to complete bridge repair designs.
After all that, ODOT will meet with Cincinnati Parks to discuss the impacts the fire and repairs have on Sawyer Point Park and any future plans for the area.
Cincinnati council member Seth Walsh said he was frustrated with the number of meaningful updates.
"The answer can't just be it takes time," he said. "They've got a lot of reasons why it's taking so long. They're not actually, like, giving us any real answers."
Walsh said he hears from constituents daily about the gridlock downtown and acknowledges that the damage and repairs are complex.
"Instead of saying 'I don't know', maybe we should start saying what we do know and really kind of leaning in on that more and communicating to people," he said.
"That's not to say they're not doing a fantastic job, but that is to say there's a lot of darkness right now that I'm not comfortable with, and I'm frustrated by, and I know people at home are frustrated by," Walsh said.
On Friday, Nov. 1 around 3:30 a.m., the 1,000 Hands Playground in Sawyer Point Park caught on fire, causing part of the bridge to burn. Days later, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced a state of emergency "due to the dangerous conditions and damages."
Since the fire, a traffic count analyst for the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments (OKI) said 33,000 vehicles per day on average have moved to nearby bridges in the two weeks since the fire and subsequent lane closures.
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