New Life Being Brought to the Historic Harmar Bridge
Initially built as a covered bridge in 1856 for the use of horse and wagon traffic, the Harmar Bridge was converted to an iron railroad bridge with a complete swing span to accommodate boat traffic during the Civil War. In 1893 a pedestrian walkway was added by the city of Marietta to improve safety and walkability. For the next 89 years, the bridge would operate successfully while being owned by more than four different railroad companies. In 1913 the bridge was devastated by flood, requiring three of the four spans to be replaced. The bridge was eventually retired from railroad traffic in 1967 by the B&O Railroad and The Historic Harmar Bridge Company took final possession of the bridge in 1985.
Numerous railroad companies have owned and operated the bridge throughout history, but none of them made any particular financial effort to invest in the long term maintenance of the bridge. As a result, the bridge has aged and its structural integrity has weakened. Rust has built up on the trusses, the superstructure has begun to gradually loosen from the piers and the wooden walkway has become bowed. It is no longer safe and these issues must be addressed if we are to ever reopen the bridge to create a safe and accessible pathway for pedestrian and bicycle traffic across the Muskingum River.
Through tireless fundraising and community support, and in partnership with the Buckeye Hills Regional Council and American Structurepoint engineering consultants, we present to you these two concepts for the future life of the Historic Harmar Bridge. The HHBC is seeking public input from the community that has helped make this progress possible in order to better inform our decision-making before entering the final engineering and design phase of the project. We will be accepting feedback on these design concepts from the public until May 15, 2023.
By selecting a preferred design alternative by mid-May, we give ourselves and our partners the time needed to prepare for the grant application process as well as build and solidify the design, engineering and construction plans. The bridge design we choose determines the scope of work needed for required environmental studies and permitting aspects which will take between 6-12 months to obtain and complete.
To support the first phase of construction, we will be seeking a large grant through the Appalachian Community Grant Program in December. Preparations for two other grant opportunities are also ongoing and having the final design will aid us during this developmental time. The Ohio History Fund would support the development of our current Harmar Village assets such as the rail cars, the West Side termini and the multi use entertainment area which is home to the annual Harmar Days Festival. While the Ohio History Fund Grants aim to preserve Ohio's heritage which would help provide much needed support for the bridge structure itself.
In 2020 the HHBC launched the Save Harmar Bridge initiative in order to fully restore the Historic Harmar Bridge, maintain its structural integrity and once again provide a safe pedestrian link between Harmar and Downtown Marietta. Without the continued support of our community members and our many local, regional and statewide partners, the adaptive reuse of the Historic Harmar Bridge would not be possible.
Option 1: Open Concept Slab and Beam Style Bridge - The need to reconstruct the trusses from the swing span section to Fort Street creates an opportunity to construct an open-concept, slab and beam style bridge. This type of design could allow for new uses such as fishing piers or observation platforms/decks/nooks.
Option 2: Mirror Image Prefabricated Truss Style Bridge - We are seeking funding that could allow us to retain the historical look of the bridge. This type of design honors what we have through the use of new/modern materials, but it lacks the additional functionality of the open-concept bridge.