The Olin Bridge on Dewey Road, one of the county’s historical Town lattice covered bridges, will be closed while the Ashtabula County Highway Department repairs original truss timbers.
Ashtabula County engineer Tim Martin said the Plymouth Township bridge was closed to all traffic last week and will remain closed into early September while the county’s bridge crew performs the work.
The problem is deterioration to the two 3 by 12-inch upper chords that run along the north side of the bridge. Martin said the issue probably predates renovations performed to the bridge back in the 1980s.
“Some vertical members had been patched, indicating the weakness,” Martin said.
The chords are both inside and outside the structure. The deterioration seems to be mainly with the exterior chord, which has more exposure to the weather.
The issue was discovered during the annual bridge inspection. The bridge was showing slight sagging, a little over 2 inches. While the county could have reduced the load limit, the decision was made to close it and make the repair this summer. It’s a big job because the bridge must be jacked up and the damaged timbers removed back to healthy joints. Martin said the upper chord is in a tough location on which to work.
“You are right up there against the roof. The roof really complicates things,” he said. “If anybody can do it, we can do it.”
A crew of four is working on the project. Martin said a flat solid spot in the river below the bridge is being used as a platform for the work. A lift will be rented to provide access to the repair site.
Finding timbers the size and quality of those used to build the bridge would be nearly impossible, so the engineer will use a glue-laminated timber to replace the faulty chord sections, which generally are 12 to 16 feet long.
Martin said the bridge should be repaired and open in time for the 26th annual Covered Bridge Festival the second full weekend of October.
Local News
Olin Bridge closed for repair
Covered bridge won’t open until September to fix original truss timbers
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