Broad Boulevard Bridge

Broad Street Park in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio was laid out to mimic the National Mall in Washington D.C. It stretched from the Henry Newbury home in the east to the Edward Duncan home in the west. The original trees along the parkway were elm trees that the earlier settlers brought from Connecticut in their covered wagons. As part of the project, a covered bridge was built over the Cuyahoga River in the 1840’s. This was the original bridge at this location. Both the Newberry and Duncan homes have been torn down, and the bridge has been replaced many times since then.

It is unclear how many bridges have been at this site, but the next documented bridge was built in 1940. This bridge was a closed spandrel concrete arch bridge, with a span of about 92 feet. It was demolished in 2004, when the current bridge was built.

The current bridge is prestressed concrete girder bridge. This is a very common type of bridge, although they were not used in Ohio until the 1950’s. Decorative railings, light posts, and flower boxes were included in the design to aesthetically fit the bridge into the nearby river square.