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Key Facts |
Bridge Name | Type | Road | Location | City | Crossing |
| Purple People Bridge | Truss | Former Railroad and Highway (Now Pedestrian Walkway) | Hamilton County, OH / Campbell County, KY | Cincinnati and Newport | Ohio River |
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Technical Facts |
|
Total Length | Main Span Length | Vertical Clearance | Construction Date |
| 2659 Feet | 509.8 Feet | 21.1 Feet | 1896 |
I was going to put a fourth nickname up here, but that was taking up too much space, so I will say it here. This bridge can also be known among bridge enthusiasts as the "Cincinnati Circus Bridge!" More about this later in the narrative. The bridge was also originally called the Newport & Cincinnati Bridge.
This monstrosity of a bridge, built in 1896, is complex to describe because so many spans compose it. In addition, some have been demolished over the years. Roughly, here is the story today. From north to south, there are two five panel Pratt deck truss spans, followed by a six panel deck truss, which long, long ago was actually a trapezoidal through truss span. Then comes the main span, a giant Pennsylvania through truss span. Continuing south, there are then four Parker truss spans. Continuing south off the river, you cross a few deck plate girder spans, ending with a set of seven beautiful red brick arch spans.
The bridge is pin connected, and features v-lacing and lattice all over the place! I could spend hours discussing the various designs of connections and members there is so much variety on this bridge. In particular, there is some very weird v-lacing on some parts, as well as an arched bottom chord on the main span. The extensive photo gallery I have for this bridge explains things visually, and does a better job than I could ever do here.
This bridge once served both rail and vehicular traffic, until it was closed to all traffic in 2001. Fortunately, enough people cared about this spectacular bridge to restore it for pedestrian use. The bridge opened to non-motorized traffic in 2003. This bridge is the most historically significant bridge next to the Roebling Bridge itself, and the community responded appropriately to save a breathtaking structure. The bridge is an example of unusual bridge construction, utilizing unusual types of structural elements, including odd styles of v-lacing and connection designs as well. The largest span is unusual because it has an arched deck and bottom chord. The size of the bridge alone is significant, and the main span is a landmark bridge in itself, with a size and complexity to it that brings thoughts of the doomed Blue Rock Road Bridge to mind. When other cities have demolished bridges as significant as this one, Cincinnati and Newport went in the other direction and saved this bridge.
While I applaud any historic bridge preservation effort, and I applaud this one, I take issue with turning it into a circus-like climbing experience that mars the visual quality of the bridge. When I first heard the idea of having a bridge climb on this bridge, it generated images of people using ropes and other climbing gear to work their way up to the top chord of the bridge. I was apparently wrong. The bridge "climb" is more like a top chord bridge "walk." It involves building shiny metal ramp/stairways with pole railings along the northern top chords of the bridge spans, and building a Plexiglas platform on the center of the main span! I actually think it is sort of funny, because although all you have to do is walk on a railing-secured walkway, they go through all sorts of safety precautions and gear and give you training including a tiny model-bridge to test-climb if you choose to climb it. Perhaps I am the foolish one, but I often have to climb up through truss bridges freehand up a v-laced vertical member to get photographs of diagonal bracing connections for bridges where the bracing is mounted on the top of the top chord. So the idea of paying hard-earned money to gain the privilege of walking on a stairway just doesn't sound that exciting. Even worse, they don't allow you to take a camera and photo the bridge as you go on the climb. Here is a better idea that does sound exciting to me... why not simply unlock the gates to the already-built stairways on the mighty Roebling Bridge and let amateur photographers like me get that cool "from-the-top-of-the-tower" view of the bridge that seems to show up in bridge coffee table books for other suspension bridges.
I really don't care what sort of a climbing program they have on the bridge, but I do care about mounting stairways and platforms, plus a large banner to the north side of the bridge. To me, it is like hanging a "Welcome to New York" banner on the face of the Statue of Liberty. It defaces the shear beauty that the trusses of this bridge create. The bridge truly is a unique bridge, and it deserves to be treated with dignity like the Roebling Bridge, and not covered with goofy things like a toy.
The lack of bridge history presented on the Purple People Bridge website suggests that they do indeed view the bridge as more of a circus rather than a museum, as I feel it should be viewed. It does say that on the climb, tour guides will relate some history of the bridge. I wonder how much though. Will visitors hear about things like "Pennsylvania through truss" or "this is a pinned connection?" I am not sure. I hope they don't tell people the bridge was built in 1872 like it erroneously says on their website. A Whipple truss was built in this location in 1872, and was replaced in 1896/7. That would explain the 1896 plaque on the bridge! I do know that there is not enough interpretive signage for pedestrians who cross the bridge. There should be signs all over the place relating the history and construction of this bridge. There is a lot to tell about this bridge, since it is large, complex, old, and has been through a lot of changes.
I apologize for all my complaining, but I had to get that out there. I am a person interested in history and photography, and so those circus-like things bug me. I am however still very pleased with the fact that this bridge is here to stay, and it looks like it will be here for a very long time to come. And as long as that is the case, I have much to be happy about.
