City to close bridge; inspection found flaws

HAMILTON, Ohio (AP) — City officials closed a bridge in a residential area because of safety concerns after an annual inspection.

Public Works Director Ralph Reigelsperger said the Aug. 3 city bridges inspection had been scheduled before the Aug. 1 Mississippi River bridge collapse in Minneapolis. That fatal collapse has led to a flurry of inspections across Ohio and the nation of large bridges of similar construction to the 1,900-foot-long bridge.

“The timing was just coincidental,” Reigelsperger said Monday of the closing of the small bridge in this southwest Ohio city about 30 miles north of Cincinnati.

He said authorities had been considering extensive repairs on the 124-foot-long bridge, which is over railroad tracks on the city’s west side, then decided this month to close it for safety. It dates back at least into the 1950s.