Lift Bridge to miss July 4 reopening date

PORT CLINTON - The reopening of the Port Clinton Lift Bridge is going to have to wait as the reconstruction project has again been extended.

The Ohio Department of Transportation learned on Monday that the reopening would not be possible by the previous target date of the July 4 holiday weekend, according to ODOT District 2 spokesperson Rebecca Dangelo.

“We’re still working out some of the details, but we’re looking at an additional 2½ weeks,” Dangelo said.

The project had been previously delayed in April due to inconsistent weather, first pushing back the originally planned re-opening from before the Memorial Day weekend to June.

It was later delayed again, with a new target date in early July, due to issues with the fabrication of parts for the historic bridge.

A key connection point that links downtown Port Clinton with the rest of the region, the bridge delays have caused headaches for commuters, business owners and visitors at a time when the tourism season is normally hitting its high point.

The drawbridge was originally built in 1932 and is one of just four now maintained by ODOT.

Bridge delays have PC businesses on edge

“This is the first major reconstruction since the original build,” said Kyle Rudel, project manager. “We replaced everything structural, steel, mechanical and electrical in it. It is a full replacement of the bridge.”

The north half of the bridge has reached limited operations, according to Rudel, while crews are still working to reach limited operations on the south half.

Once the limited checkout of the bridge is completed, the project can move into its final stages, Rudel said.

“Every day we work to check off another checkpoint and get to the next one,” he said. "Really, our competition date is going to be the first day we can open it.”

The target is now to reopen the bridge near the end of July, according to ODOT.

“If we get there before that, we’re going to open it. We know how important this is,” Rudel said.

The reason for the most recent delay is ongoing work on the alignment, which requires precision to within a thousandth of an inch, according to Rudel, as well as making sure every aspect of the bridge is within the tolerances to make it a lasting structure.

“There are some very tight tolerances with it, and with that, it will last a lifetime,” Rudel said. “If we were to try to rush that, it’s going to be additional wear and tear on the structure, which means we’d have to be back out here fixing it. We want to do it one time and we’re going to do it right.”

jstinchcom@gannett.com

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