Kokosing removes W14 I 90 Eastbound ramp from Innerbelt Bridge

The W 14th street I 90 ramp had an accelleration lane added on the Innerbelt Bridge after the bridge was built.  The accelleration lane added weight and cantilever forces on the trusses which the Bridge was not originally designed to withstand.  

Removing this accelleration lane will take tons of deadweight off of the span.   The 8 or 10 foot deep gray solid steel girder under the Kokosing work men is part of the added accelleration lane and will, I believe, also be removed.

This added on accelleration lane - not in the original bridge design - explains why the W14th ramp was closed over a year ago.  

This strut places  unbalanced lateral (side to side) loading on the bridge, for which the bridge was not originally designed.   The top two images can ve viewed from Sokolowski's [1] parking lot.

HIGH IRON BRIDGE WORKERS

Under the bridge ironworkers are removing the old rivets and replacing the rivets with bolts and stiffening plates.  These fellows spend the day about a 100 feet above the Cuyahoga - like trolls under the nursery rhyme bridge - using C clamps and bailing wire to hold a plank for  a temporary walkway to provide access to the inside of the bridge truss.

If I was a telephoto OSHA inspector, these guys would pass inspection.  Notice ear plugs (air chipping hammer very loud), face shield/safety glasses, hard hats, steel toed boots, fall arrest harnesses, high visibility vests, gloves.   The red airline needs special safety clips at its connectins - I can't see the connections so I can't tell if the clips are there.

And the hydraulic telescoping personel lift/orange basket has its own set of inspection requirements.

Also, the area below the workers requires fencing/warning tape - so no one walks underneith and takes a falling rivet to the top of the head .   Not so sure this was in place.  This view is from the Cold Storage building.

Do heights bother you?   Then this may not be your line of work...