Oakley Clark Collins Memorial Bridge

The Oakley Clark Collins Memorial Bridge connects Ironton, Ohio and Russell, Kentucky. It has recently replaced the old “Ironton-Russell” bridge, which was demolished due to the condition it was in. The eighty-nine million dollar Memorial bridge opened on November 23, 2016. The main contractor for the construction of the bridge was Brayman Construction Corporation.

The Oakley Clark Collins Memorial Bridge replaced the Ironton-Russell Bridge. The Ironton-Russell Bridge was opened in 1922 and was destroyed before the new Memorial Bridge opened in 2016. The original bridge was the first highway bridge built on the Ohio River from Parkersburg, West Virginia to Cincinnati, Ohio. Replacing this nostalgic bridge, the Oakley Memorial Bridge is the longest bridge that the Ohio Department of Transportation has ever been a part of.

The bridge is a cable-stayed bridge that is over 902 feet long. This bridge was necessary for the community and local commerce due to the travel restrictions put on the previous bridge, barring vehicles wider than seven foot, six inches from crossing. The only exceptions from this rule from the Ohio Department of Transportation were emergency vehicles and school buses. There were many ideas and plans considered in replacing the original bridge once it was deemed unsafe. Some of these plans included a single-tower cable suspension bridge that would have stretched three lanes. This design was eventually converted to the now existing bridge due to the cost being too expensive. The original design was made in 2003 but due to the drastic effects Hurricane Katrina, cost of construction sky-rocketed.

The bridge is named after Oakley C. Collins, who was a Republican Ohio State Senator for over thirty years. Oakley Collins also has the Ohio University Southern Campus named after him. The name dedication comes from his involvement in education for more than twenty years. He served on the United States Senate and served as a member of the Ohio House of Representatives. Oakley Collins lived a seventy-eight year life, full of accomplishments that would help the community and State around him and for that, naming of the bridge after him was felt to be much deserved.

The new bridge is not only a wonderful sight to see during the day, but at night it has luminating blue/purple lights to light up the night sky on the Ohio River. These LEDs that are currently featured on the bridge, cost between an estimated four hundred thousand and five hundred thousand dollars to install. The bridge was not just a must needed addition to the area, or a necessary replacement for the previous bridge, but an essential piece to the bring back people's pride in the area.

Malloy, David E. Oakley Clark Collins Bridge opens to public today in Ironton and Russell. Herald Dispatch. November 23, 2016. Accessed November 09, 2018. Oakley Clark Collins Bridge opens to public today in Ironton and Russell.

OAKLEY C. COLLINS MEMORIAL BRIDGE. OHIO / KENTUCKY. Finley Engineering Group. . Accessed November 09, 2018. https://finleyengineeringgroup.com/projects/ironton-russell-bridge-replacement-ohio-kentucky/.

Shaffer, Mark. Blue Lights Over Kentucky: ODOT Installs LED Lights on New Bridge. Ironton Tribune. August 11, 2017. Accessed November 09, 2018. https://www.irontontribune.com/2017/08/11/blue-lights-over-kentucky-odot-installs-led-lights-on-new-bridge/#//.