Frederick Gottemoeller - Bridgescape LLC

The Olentangy River flows through the northern suburbs of Columbus and the campus of Ohio State University, bordered by the Greenway, a 20-mile bicycle/pedestrian trail heavily used by students and commuters. The river's channel has wandered over the years, partially undermining the mid-river pier of the previous bridge, so the owner asked that the new bridge eliminate the pier.

Bridging both the river and trail in one span requires a 220' span. Achieving that with the community's choice of a concrete structure while providing 10' of headroom for the Greenway requires a thin girder, too thin for conventional concrete structural systems. So, the design team developed an innovation. The custom precast concrete "tub" girders are anchored within the abutments by steel strand "tiedowns" drilled into the underlying rock. This type of structure is sometimes used with steel girders, but it is believed that Dodridge Street is the first application of this technique to precast concrete girders. The bridge is actually thinnest not over the Greenway but at mid-river, which gives the bridge an arched appearance that fits well into the park-like setting.