Bridge in Kentucky and Cincinnati, Ohio
Newport Southbank Bridge
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The bridge viewed from the river in 2022
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Coordinates
| 39°05′53″N
84°29′52″W
/
39.098019°N 84.497747°W
/
39.098019; -84.497747
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Carries
| pedestrians
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Crosses
| Ohio River
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Locale
| Newport, Kentucky
and
Cincinnati, Ohio
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Other name(s)
| Purple People Bridge
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Design
| Truss bridge
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Total length
| 2,670 feet (810 m)
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Newport and Cincinnati Bridge
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Location
| Spans Ohio River,
Cincinnati, Ohio
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Built
| - 1868?1872 (original)
- 1896?1897 (replacement trusswork on same, but widened, piers)
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Architect
| Becker, M.J.; et al.
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Architectural style
| Subdivided Pratt truss
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NRHP reference
No.
| 01000364
[1]
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Added to NRHP
| April 17, 2001
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Opened
| - April 1, 1872 (original bridge)
- 1897 (present bridge, built on the original piers)
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The
Purple People Bridge
stretches 2,670 feet over the
Ohio River
, connecting
Newport, Kentucky
to downtown
Cincinnati, Ohio
.
History
[
edit
]
The original bridge first opened on April 1, 1872, under the name
Newport and Cincinnati Bridge
, and was Cincinnati's first railroad bridge spanning the Ohio River.
[2]
The bridge piers were built with stone from
Adams County, Ohio
.
[3]
The present bridge, which was built on the original piers (which were widened during that work), opened in 1897 to streetcar, pedestrian and automobile traffic.
[4]
In 1904, the bridge was renamed the
L&N
(Louisville and Nashville) Railroad Bridge, and this name remained until the bridge was rehabilitated and re-opened as a pedestrian-only bridge in May 2003.
The bridge was closed to railroad traffic in 1987, and later closed to automobile traffic in October 2001 after years of neglect and deterioration.
On April 17, 2001, the L&N Railroad Bridge was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
.
[5]
In late 2001, the city of
Newport, Kentucky
, and Southbank Partners, a regional economic development organization, used $4 million in state funds to restore the bridge. When it was time to decide on what color to paint it, a variety of options were explored. Computer-generated images of the bridge were shown to participants in more than a dozen focus groups, all of whom picked the color purple as a top choice. It was soon nicknamed the "Purple People Bridge" by area residents.
The bridge provides convenient access to the "
Newport on the Levee
" development in Newport, Kentucky, as well as
Downtown Cincinnati
.
In 2006, it became possible for the public to cross the bridge via its superstructure wearing appropriate safety gear. There are similar bridge climb experiences in
Australia
and
New Zealand
. Citing lack of funds and low attendance, the Purple People Bridge Climb closed on May 23, 2007.
[6]
In 2022, the Newport Southbank Bridge was officially renamed the "Purple People Bridge".
The bridge is owned and managed by the private-nonprofit, Purple People Bridge Company, which maintains public access to pedestrian and bicycle traffic.
Gallery
[
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]
See also
[
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]
References
[
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]
External links
[
edit
]
Kentucky railroad history
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