Anthony Wayne Bridge
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox bridge
| bridge_name = Anthony Wayne Bridge
| image = Anthony Wayne Bridge, Toledo, OH from Middlegrounds Metropark with Skyline.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Anthony Wayne Bridge crossing the Maumee River
| official_name =
| other_name =
| carries = {{jct|state=OH|OH|2|OH|51|OH|65}}
| crosses = Maumee River
| locale = Toledo, Ohio
| owner =
| maint =
| id =
| designer =
| engineering = Waddell and Hardesty
| design = Suspension bridge
| material = Steel
| length = {{convert|3215|ft|m|abbr=on|1}}
| width = {{convert|60|ft|m|abbr=on|1}}
| height =
| mainspan = {{convert|1252|ft|m|abbr=on|1}}
| spans =
| pierswater =
| load =
| clearance =
| below =
| life =
| builder = McClintic-Marshall Company
| fabricator =
| begin =
| complete = 1931
| open =
| inaugurated =
| toll =
| traffic =
| preceded =
| followed =
| heritage =
| collapsed =
| closed =
| map_cue =
| map_image =
| map_alt =
| map_text =
| map_width =
| coordinates = {{coord|41|38|27.8|N|83|32|0.5|W|type:landmark|display=title,inline}}
}}
The Anthony Wayne Bridge, commonly called the High Level Bridge, and is a downtown Toledo, Ohio landmark named after General Anthony Wayne. It is a suspension bridge that spans the Maumee River.{{cite web |date= |title=Anthony Wayne Bridge Historic Maumee River, Railroad, and Streets OH-2 and OH-5 |url=http://www.historicbridges.org/ohio/toledo/index.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927031217/http://www.historicbridges.org/ohio/toledo/index.htm |archive-date=2011-09-27 |access-date=2011-09-02 |publisher=Historicbridges.org}}{{cite web |date= |title=Anthony Wayne Bridge |url=http://en.structurae.de/structures/data/index.cfm?id=s0007344 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210922213214/https://structurae.net/en/structures/anthony-wayne-bridge |archive-date=September 22, 2021 |access-date=2011-09-02 |website=structurae |publisher=structurae.net}}
The bridge has some features that give it a unique aesthetic quality, including a sky blue color and various lattice patterns. The overall structure of this bridge was built by the McClintic-Marshall Company, which is the same company that built the Ambassador Bridge in Detroit. Waddell and Hardesty were consulting engineers on its design.{{Cite web |last=Holth |first=Nathan |last2=McOmber |first2=Rick |date=September 7, 2015 |title=Anthony Wayne Bridge (High Level Bridge) |url=https://historicbridges.org/bridges/browser/?bridgebrowser=ohio/toledo/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231030185239/https://historicbridges.org/bridges/browser/?bridgebrowser=ohio/toledo/ |archive-date=October 30, 2023 |access-date=October 30, 2023 |website=historicbridges.org}}
Ohio State Routes 2, 51, and 65 cross the Maumee River on the Anthony Wayne Bridge; it also connects Clayton Street to Woodville Road.{{cite web|url=https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl |title=Google Maps |publisher=Google Maps |access-date=2011-09-02}}{{Irrelevant citation|reason=Links to Google Maps' main webpage, rather than to a specific location. A URI from Google Earth, which is not necessarily possible, would be more appropriate. A citation to a physical map, rather than a map on a web application, would likely be more usable.|date=March 2025}}
The bridge was designated a historical civil engineering landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers in 2022.{{cite web |date=July 13, 2022 |title=ASCE Toledo honors Anthony Wayne Bridge |url=https://www.transportation.ohio.gov/about-us/news/district-2/ASCE-Toledo-honors-Anthony-Wayne-Bridge |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220714005536/https://www.transportation.ohio.gov/about-us/news/district-2/ASCE-Toledo-honors-Anthony-Wayne-Bridge |archive-date=July 14, 2022 |access-date=2022-07-14 |website=Ohio Department of Transportation}}
Construction
The Anthony Wayne Bridge construction cost the city of Toledo three-million dollars and passed city council 15-2 before being a city wide ballot in November 1928.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2020-01-25 |title=Anthony Wayne Bridge – Toledo History Box |url=https://www.toledohistorybox.com/2020/01/25/anthony-wayne-bridge/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230610153407/https://www.toledohistorybox.com/2020/01/25/anthony-wayne-bridge/ |archive-date=June 10, 2023 |access-date=2023-10-30 |website=Toledo History Box |language=en-US}} In October 1929, Mayor W. T. Jackson broke ground on the project once on both sides of the Maumee River to a crowd of over 500 people.{{Cite web |title=Toledo Blade - Google News Archive Search |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=fnZhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=mgIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5308,6260838 |url-status=live |access-date=2023-10-30 |website=news.google.com}}
Its construction became a local and national spectacle in 1930 as the two largest steel girders made in the world were hoisted above the river and put in place, they each measured 154 feet long and 12 foot high weighing 83 tons each. Construction lasted two years and 27 days breaking records on suspension bridge construction at the time. Over 40,000 people would attend the celebrations of the bridge's opening 1931.
As the bridge construction was nearing its end, the city found itself without a name as public outrage railed against the naming of the bridge after scandalized former U.S. President Warren G. Harding. During these years the bridge went by the colloquial "High Level Bridge"{{Cite book |last=Brower |first=William |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=xrhOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1wAEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1074%2C3624435 |title=Wrangles Over Bridge-Naming Old Toledo Story: High-Level Span Swayed By Rhetorical Breeze Before Acquiring Moniker |date=May 18, 1958 |publisher=Toledo Blade |year= |location=Toledo (Ohio) |pages=1–2 |language=en}} A committee was set to name the bridge, ultimately choosing the name High Level Bridge, which upset many including the city council which reversed course and named the bridge Anthony Wayne. The mayor refused to sign off on the new name letting city council's naming motion become official without his signature.
Five years after the bridge opening in the amidst of the Great Depression the city was unable to continue payments on the bridge's construction and was sued for payment on its world famous steel girders. The city had to pass an additional bond issue to continue payments.
Reconstruction and Dehumidification Project
In April 2012, the city of Toledo and the Ohio Department of Transportation announced a project that would close the bridge to traffic for nearly 2 years. The redevelopment project took nearly 3 years to complete and reopened in October 2015.{{Cite web |title=Error |url=http://www.dot.state.oh.us/districts/D02/High%20Level%20Bridge%20Project/Pages/AnthonyWayneBridgeProject.aspx |url-status=dead}} {{Dead link|date=March 2025}}
During this process a bridge cable dehumidification system was added to the main cables to prevent corrosion, the fourth such installation of a dehumidification system in the United States and the first to be completed in Ohio.{{Cite web |title=Anthony Wayne Bridge Dehumidification |url=https://www.americanbridge.net/featured-projects/anthony-wayne-bridge-dehumidification/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241226162116/https://www.americanbridge.net/featured-projects/anthony-wayne-bridge-dehumidification/ |archive-date=December 26, 2024 |access-date=2023-10-30 |website=American Bridge}}{{Cite web |date=October 30, 2023 |title=High Level Bridge dehumidification |url=https://www.transportation.ohio.gov/projects/projects/101556 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250313144533/https://www.transportation.ohio.gov/projects/projects/101556 |archive-date=March 13, 2025 |access-date=October 30, 2023 |website=Ohio Department of Transportation}}
The Toledo Arts Commission raised over $900,000 for new LED lighting to be installed on the bridge after its planned reconstruction ended. The new lighting was unveiled in 2019 and was designed by Austrian-born artist Erwin Redl.{{Cite web |date=September 17, 2019 |title=Anthony Wayne Bridge lights up before final ProMedica summer concert |url=https://www.wtol.com/article/news/community/go-419/anthony-wayne-bridge-lights-up-following-final-promedica-summer-concert/512-0403c7e1-abc2-4da1-94a6-4e67f8664843 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250313144713/https://www.wtol.com/article/news/community/go-419/anthony-wayne-bridge-lights-up-following-final-promedica-summer-concert/512-0403c7e1-abc2-4da1-94a6-4e67f8664843 |archive-date=March 13, 2025 |access-date=2023-10-30 |website=wtol.com |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Patch |first=David |date=April 13, 2018 |title=Fund-raising goal reached for Anthony Wayne Bridge lighting |url=https://www.toledoblade.com/local/2018/04/13/Fund-raising-goal-reached-for-Anthony-Wayne-Bridge-lighting/stories/20180413108 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241226161918/https://www.toledoblade.com/local/2018/04/13/Fund-raising-goal-reached-for-Anthony-Wayne-Bridge-lighting/stories/20180413108 |archive-date=December 26, 2024 |access-date=2023-10-30 |website=The Blade |language=en}}
Images
File:Anthony Wayne Bridge, Toledo, OH from Middlegrounds Metropark Full Span.jpg|Anthony Wayne Bridge, Toledo, OH in 2022
File:Anthony Wayne Bridge, Toledo, OH from Middlegrounds Metropark with Skyline.jpg|Anthony Wayne Bridge, Toledo, OH in 2022
File:Anthony Wayne Bridge, Toledo, OH from Middlegrounds Metropark Close Up.jpg|Anthony Wayne Bridge, Toledo, OH in 2022
File:Anthony Wayne Bridge, Toledo, OH from Middlegrounds Metropark.jpg|Anthony Wayne Bridge, Toledo, OH in 2022
File:AnthonyWayneBridge.JPG|Anthony Wayne Bridge, Toledo, OH in 2009
File:AnthonyWayneBridgeDeck.JPG|Anthony Wayne Bridge Deck in 2003
File:High Level Bridge, Toledo, Ohio (approximately 1920) - DPLA - 9a7b3e1fe6616099ec33cee83ba798b0.jpg|Anthony Wayne Bridge approximately 1920
File:High level bridge across Maumee River, Toledo, Ohio (64256).jpg|Postcard from the 1940s