“It’s not the longest, but it’s the most expensive because of the length and width and the aesthetics on it,” said Montgomery County Engineer Paul Gruner. “It’s a big project for us.”
The new bridge will stretch 721 feet across the Great Miami River and include four overlooks.
Planning, design work and environmental clearances will push the total cost of the project to more than $21 million, according to Gruner.
“It’s going to be a great project and good for the community,” Gruner said. “It’s the Peace Bridge, and a lot of Dayton history will be shown on the bridge.”
The span links downtown with many of Dayton’s most historically-significant sites, including those associated with Paul Laurence Dunbar and the Wright brothers.
Those historic figures — as well as Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1963 march on Washington, which is commemorated every year locally with a march over the bridge — will be recognized in bas-relief sculptures planned for two of the bridge’s piers that face the recreation trails on either bank.
Dayton artist Willis “Bing” Davis, whose studio is blocks from the bridge, has said the structure can help create more change for the city.
” … That particular bridge carries so much meaning in the community — it’s a symbol for the city of its east-west divide, and it crosses the river, which has so much connotation of the ethnic and cultural divide in the community,” said Davis, who helped shape some of the unique art for the bridge.
Tablatures on the bridge will also celebrate women who shaped Dayton history, local civil rights activists, the area’s funk music legacy and the Tuskegee Airmen.
Originally built in 1904, the seven-span bridge is now rated structurally deficient and in poor condition — a diminished distinction the Third Street bridge shares with about 30 others in the county. It underwent a major rehabilitation last in 1949 and required emergency repairs in 2010-2011, though officials said at the time it wasn’t at risk of collapsing.
The current steel-beamed bridge carries about 11,700 vehicles a day. The new bridge will be made of pre-stressed concrete beams and designed to carry 15,000 vehicles daily, according to the county engineer’s office.
The new bridge will also be wider to accommodate a center two-way left turn lane as well as a 10-foot-wide northern sidewalk and a 17-foot-wide southern shared-use path. Both replace existing 8-foot sidewalks, plans show.
A ceremonial groundbreaking likely will be planned for September, Gruner said. Preliminary work, including rerouting bike paths and moving utilities, will begin soon with major construction anticipated to start before the end of the year, he said.
Federal funding will cover nearly $16 million of the cost with another $929,000 coming from the Ohio Public Works Commission, according to the county.
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