Safety Fencing Added to East Termini
05/06/2025
It’s always exciting when you see work being done around the Historic Harmar Bridge, but last week we had some work done for a very different reason. Safety has been and will always be our first priority in the revitalization process of the Bridge. When we voted to close the bridge to all traffic in 2020, it was not done so in haste or taken lightly. We knew this would impact our community in countless ways, but we also knew that it was no longer safe for our neighbors to be on. Our fears were later confirmed in 2022 after a full underwater and superstructure inspection was performed by CONSOR Engineers, LLC showing between 50-100% section loss on all four spans.
Since then, we have worked hard to keep the public off of the closed Bridge, but unfortunately we have continued to run into an issue with trespassers. After much discussion and meeting with the City of Marietta Director of Public Safety, we decided it was time for us to take greater steps to ensure the safety of our neighbors. We contracted with Jeff’s Fence Co. to build us a new fence around the entire East Termini Structure and bridge and pedestrian walkway entrance complete with a gate for maintenance, emergency personnel, and Bridge Company use. While the Bridge will remain closed to the public, this new fencing provides a view we haven’t been able to see in many years. We hope our community will stand with us in this decision to put everybody’s safety first and will enjoy the beautiful new view that this open feature gives us.
While this is the first physical change we have seen to the Bridge, we are still working very hard behind the scenes to keep progress and momentum moving forward. Here is an overview of our grants related activity over the last 10 months:
July 2024 - Received $10,000 grant from Marietta Community Foundation to pursue design work to address infrastructure, western termini, and the active transportation network in Harmar Village Multi-Use Recreational Park Area (MURPA)
July 2024 - With City of Marietta, applied for $2,000,000 Active Transportation Infrastructure Investment Program (ATIIP) Grant through the U.S. Department of Transportation for final bridge design and inspections
October 2024 - Received $48,448.40 reimbursement for Ohio Department of Natural Resources 2020 Capital Grant for bridge superstructure and underwater pier inspection
November 2024 - With City of Marietta, submitted Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) grant application through Ohio Department of Transportation for $728,200 for construction funding for the swing-span
January 2025- With City of Marietta, Washington County Health Department, and Marietta College, applied for $10,000,000 RAISE/Build (Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development) grant through the Federal Department of Transportation for construction on the eastern approach and swing-span ($25,000,000 total application with 40% allocated to Harmar Bridge)
April 2025 - With City of Marietta, applied for $50,000 Appalachian Regional Commission grant for MURPA development and administrative costs
