CINCINNATI — Earlier this month, a fire significantly damaged part of the Interstate 471 Ohio approach to the Daniel Carter Beard Bridge, now officials say all lanes will reopen in March 2025.

The Ohio Department of Transportation created an emergency contract with Hinckley, Ohio-based Great Lakes Construction to repair and reopen the link between Cincinnati and Newport, Kentucky. The connection serves approximately 100,000 vehicles each day. 


What You Need To Know

  • The Ohio Department of Transportation created an emergency contract with Hinckley, Ohio-based Great Lakes Construction to repair and reopen the link between Cincinnati and Newport, Kentucky
  • The demolition of the bridge begins on Friday
  • Several steel beams were derformed by the fire, detaching them from the concrete bridge deck
  • After repairs, the northbound lanes should reopen in December

The demolition of the bridge begins on Friday; however, it is not a typical demolition. ODOT said, during a standard demolition, crews would saw-cut the croncrete bridge deck, remove the damaged concrete, then cut the damaged steel beams and remove them.

Several steel beams were derformed by the fire, detaching them from the concrete bridge deck. Because of a lack of support, the bridge deck warped. ODOT said in a news release the plan for removing the concrete deck is 224 pages long, detailing everything from where cuts should be made to where equipment should be placed. It also details how to offload weight from the warped deck safely. Officials have a separate plan for the girders, similarly complex and detailed.

After the damaged sections of the southbound lanes have been removed, crews will work on repairs to a 70-foot section of the left wall of northbound I-471. With repairs expected to be completed in December for this section, all the northbound lanes will be reopened.

The southbound steel beams and plates are custom fabricated for the location. ODOT and Great Lakes Construction have worked with manufacturers operating fabrication shops; however, there is a high demand for steel beams and girders following the infrastructure damage in North Carolina and Tennessee following Hurricane Helene which delays productions. 

Nucor Steel will manufacture the steel and send it to Stupp Bridge fabrication facility in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The components are expected in Cincinnati by mid-January.

Once they arrive on site, crews will place the beams and pour new concrete deck and side walls for the southbound lanes. ODOT said—weather permitting—the work is expected to be done in early March. According to the department, projects replacing steel girders would normally take about three years to design, build, fabricate and construct rather than the months this project will take.

ODOT will pay for the emergency repair project and pursue reimbursement through the Federal Emergency Relief Program. The final cost of the project will not be known until the work is complete.