The Market Street Bridge is scheduled for significant maintenance work in the latter
part of 2009 and continuing into the 2010 construction season. WVDOH anticipates
structural repair work during the Fall of 2009, including repairs to both the towers
and the truss. Work will begin in the Spring of 2010 to clean and paint the bridge.
WVDOT is currently studying color schemes for the painting of the bridge. In addition,
period lighting will be installed on the bridge using a lighting scheme similar
to that of the historic Wheeling Suspension Bridge. Also, weight enforcement measures
will be installed. The Market Street Bridge is a steel suspension bridge with an
overall length of 1794' and a roadway width of approximately 22'. The structure
consists of three main spans across the Ohio River that are cable-suspended with
a stiffening through Warren truss. The west approach consists of two deck girder
spans and a five-span steel through truss which is a quadrangular Warren with verticals.
The cables are suspended from two steel towers that rise approximately 210' from
cut stone piers . The substructure consists of cut stone piers, concrete stub abutments,
and both concrete and steel bents.
About the Bridge
The Market Street Bridge was completed in 1905 as a project of the Steubenville
Bridge Company, an organization that appears to have been formed solely for the
purpose of constructing the bridge. The structure was originally built to carry
streetcar and pedestrian traffic over the Ohio River between the town of Steubenville
and the towns along the river in West Virginia, including Follansbee and Wellsburg.
The suspension bridge provided a solution to crossing the Ohio River and many of
this bridge type were built along the Ohio/West Virginia border, including the East
Liverpool-Chester Bridge (1897), Newell-East Liverpool Bridge (1905), Belpre-Parkersburg
Bridge (1916) and Fort Steuben Bridge (1928), among others. The West Virginia State
Road Commission acquired the bridge for $1.3 million from the Steubenville Bridge
Company in 1942, and converted it to vehicular use, spending $400,000 and two years
on the renovation. Tolls were placed on the bridge with the expectation that the
bridge would be paid for in 12 years. Tolls were removed in 1953. The Market Street
Bridge is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion
A for its role as an important transportation link between Ohio and West Virginia.
The Market Street Bridge is a steel suspension bridge with an overall length of
1794' and a roadway width of approximately 22'. The structure consists of three
main spans across the Ohio River that are cable-suspended with a stiffening through
Warren truss. The west approach consists of two deck girder spans and a five-span
steel through truss which is a quadrangular Warren with verticals. The cables are
suspended from two steel towers that rise approximately 210' from cut stone piers
. The substructure consists of cut stone piers, concrete stub abutments, and both
concrete and steel bents. The structure has a 5'-4" sidewalk on the downstream side
that is accessed via steel stairs on the Ohio side. Handrailings are basic fence-like
steel elements. Connections are primarily riveted. The bridge has minimal decorative
or architectural elements.
The Market Street Bridge was completed in 1905 as a project of the Steubenville
Bridge Company, an organization that appears to have been formed solely for the
purpose of constructing the bridge. The structure was originally built to carry
streetcar and pedestrian traffic over the Ohio River between the town of Steubenville
and the towns along the river in West Virginia, including Follansbee and Wellsburg.
A newspaper article regarding the bridge opening expressed the hope that the bridge
would “stimulate the city in a business way” by bringing customers from across the
river. The Ohio Historic Inventory bridge inventory form notes that Steubenville
businessman Dohrman Sinclair made a deal with the Follansbee brothers of West Virginia
that if Sinclair built the bridge, the Follansbees would build a tin mill directly
across the river. Thus, Sinclair’s Tri-State Traction Company streetcars would provide
transportation for mill workers in a mutually beneficial arrangement.
Historical Significance
E.K. Morse was the designer of the Market Street Bridge. Morse worked on the Hawkesbury
River railroad bridge in Australia in 1887 and returned to the United States in
1889 to work as a consulting engineer in Pittsburgh. He was employed by Jones and
Laughlin Steel Corporation, Carnegie Steel Corporation and city and county governments,
among others. In 1907, after a series of devastating floods, Morse was asked to
head the Pittsburgh Flood Commission, and made it his life's work to improve the
city's defenses against flooding. He continued to work on this goal and others until
his death in 1942.
The contractor for the bridge was the Ohio Steel Erection Company. Little information
was available regarding this company’s history and work. The Penn Bridge Company
has also been credited as a builder of the bridge. The Penn Bridge Company was established
in 1868 by T.B. White in Beaver Falls, PA. The company began constructing wooden
bridges, but reorganized and expanded into metal in 1878. The company continued
to grow and built bridges throughout the United States, remaining independent of
the large conglomerate American Bridge Company. The extent of Penn Bridge Company’s
involvement with the Market Street Bridge is unknown.
The suspension bridge has precedents in the ancient world, but this design type
was not used for large civil projects until the 19th century. Engineering design
theories regarding suspension bridges were published in Europe and the United States
in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The increasing development of iron and
steel manufacturing technology in the early 1900s allowed these theories to be put
into practical use. The technology to economically produce metal cables and members
fostered the use of the suspension bridge as a way to span great lengths using less
material. Charlest Ellet, Jr and John Augustus Roebling studied suspension bridges
in Europe and were instrumental in promoting this bridge type in the United States.
Ellet designed the Wheeling Suspension Bridge in 1847-1849, which is now recognized
as one of the most prominent historic suspension bridges in the country. The suspension
bridge provided a solution to crossing the Ohio River and many of this bridge type
were built along the Ohio/West Virginia border, including the East Liverpool-Chester
Bridge (1897), Newell-East Liverpool Bridge (1905), Belpre-Parkersburg Bridge (1916)
and Fort Steuben Bridge (1928), among others.
Although the Market Street Bridge was called “ornamental” in the newspaper upon
its opening, the bridge in reality was a utilitarian structure. The bridge was primarily
intended to serve streetcar traffic, but automobile and foot traffic was accommodated
as well. Various streetcar companies used the bridge over the years, including the
Tri-State Traction Company, Wheeling Traction System, West Penn Traction Company
and others. By 1922, the bridge was experiencing structural failure due to overloaded
freight cars. Renowned structural engineer David B. Steinman, designer of the Mackinac
Bridge, visited to inspect and analyze the bridge and to recommend repairs, which
were implemented. By the 1940s, streetcar use had declined significantly due to
the ubiquity of the automobile. The West Virginia State Road Commission acquired
the bridge for $1.3 million from the Steubenville Bridge Company in 1942, and converted
it to vehicular use, spending $400,000 and two years on the renovation. Tolls were
placed on the bridge with the expectation that the bridge would be paid for in 12
years. Tolls were removed in 1953.
The Market Street Bridge is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places
under Criterion A for its role as an important transportation link between Ohio
and West Virginia. In the early 20th century, the width of the Ohio River would
have been a major impediment to connection between communities on either bank. Construction
of this bridge represented the expansion of communication and markets to new places
with ease that could not have been conceived in the era of ferrying. Local newspapers
looked forward to the economic development promised by this bridge, and by all accounts,
the structure was well-used. The Market Street Bridge also uniquely represents an
ever-evolving continuum of transportation history in its original use for streetcars,
incidental use by pedestrians and finally, acquiesence to the automobile.