New Innerbelt Bridge taking shape as renderings show how bridge will embrace Cleveland's rock past

CLEVELAND - It's getting easier to put a face on the new Innerbelt Bridge. From below in the Flats you can now clearly see the new bridge taking shape.

The first phase will open this fall, less than two years after construction began. But the second phase of the project will take a year longer because the old Innerbelt Bridge built in the 50's has to be torn down.

To begin, the new bridge will carry all traffic with two lanes in both directions, while the old Innerbelt Bridge is still being torn down.

In the fall of 2016, the two new bridges will carry five lanes in both directions.

New construction means stronger materials and a safer design, but how the bridge looks as you enter and exit Tremont or downtown Cleveland also matters.

"Cleveland Rocks" will be imprinted on the side of the bridge with a mural of people raising their hands at the entrances from East 9th Street and Ontario Avenue.

"In Tremont we have some unique plans for what we call a sideyard with a nature play area and a blueberry hill. We're working with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum so that when you're entering Cleveland, everyone knows Cleveland does rock," explained Jocelynn Clemings with ODOT District 12.

While landscaping will help the new bridge not look like just a massive metal concrete structure, the mile-long structure is a quantum leap forward in engineering. Eighty foot piers that support the new bridge are nearly three times deeper underground, digging 220 feet into bedrock.

Surface coatings these days offer superior protection for the bridge. The entire deck is being built so it can be taken off and replaced in time if needed.

Because expansion joints can be ripped up, the old Innerbelt Bridge is only salted not plowed during snow storms. The new bridge will be built so that it can be plowed like any highway.

A meeting about the Innerbelt Bridge goes until 7 p.m Tuesday at the Saint Joseph Center on West 14th Street in Tremont.

Daily, 138,000 travel along the Innerbelt Bridge.