Innerbelt Chronicles: Tremont Bluff & Heavy Metal

© Stuart Pearl 2012 - Click on Image to Enlarge for Slideshow
 

Out of site, out of mind.  It's easy to forget that the massive bulk of Cleveland Cold Storage sat in this spot for nearly a century before being demolished last year.  Unfortunately it was in the way of the new westbound Innerbelt Bridge. 

Looking East in this 9/21/11 photo you can see the twin towers of the Norfolk & Southern RR bridge on the left.  The current Innerbelt bridge is to the right.
 

July 1, 2011

July 12, 2011

July 12, 2011




By 7/29/2011 much of Cold Storage had been cleared away.  Only the deep foundation remained.  This had to be fully removed as part of the hillside stabilization efforts for the new westbound bridge. 

A portion of the Tremont bluff near this bend of the Cuyahoga has moved towards the river over the past decades.  It was this geologic pressure that pushed on the old bridge piers which necessitated some repair work. 



Nov. 21, 2011

Once all of the Cold Storage foundation was removed, the area was further excavated and graded. The new much gentler slope will not put the same kind of pressure on the new bridge piers as was the problem with the existing structure. 



Nov. 24, 2011

June 22, 2012

Aug. 1, 2012

Sept. 7, 2012







 

A variety of heavy equipment is used on a construction project of this nature.  Above are the protrusions of a Sheep's Head roller.  These are typically used to compact roadbeds and other ground surfaces requiring heavy compression.



This particular Sheep's Head Roller was on the West bank of the Cuyahoga not too far from the University Inn. 

 

This oil painting of a Sheeps Head roller was made by my father Moses Pearl in the early 1960's.  Interstate I-271 was under construction at the time.  As it passed through Mayfield Heights Moses painted and sketched earth moving equipment on several occasions.  He too was fascinated by their power to change the landscape forever.  



Can you see the iron worker in this photo?  He is walking near components that will become part of the structural steel connecting Piers 5 and 6.

 

8/15/2012 - About a mile east of the Tremont bluff work continues with the Ontario St. on-ramp. The concrete piers for the on-ramp have been completed and structural steel has been added. The ramp piers start out at a lower level from the bridge since they must rise up from Ontario to merge with the I-90 traffic.