Columbia Street Bridge — Fort Wayne, Ind.

Development Team
OWNER: Allen County Board of Commissioners, Fort Wayne, Ind.
PRIMARY CONTRACTOR: Primco Inc., Fort Wayne, Ind.
ENGINEER: DLZ Indiana LLC, South Bend, Ind.
PNEUMATICALLY PLACED MORTAR: F.E. Gates Co., Indianapolis
CUSTOM LIGHT MANUFACTURER: GTF Lighting, Elmwood Park, Ill.
LIGHTING AND SIGNALS: Light and Signals Inc., Fort Wayne, Ind.

Originally constructed in 1926, the Columbia Street Bridge is an earth-filled arch structure made of concrete.

In 1972, the bridge was reconstructed to provide four travel lanes and upgrade it to meet current safety standards, but the project removed many of the architectural features of the original.

South Bend, Ind.-based DLZ Indiana LLC was charged with producing plans to rehabilitate the structure and recreate the historic appearance while maintaining functional requirements.

The planning and design of the restoration involved research into the bridge's original appearance and meetings with Professor James Cooper, an expert on Indiana's bridges, to discuss options for the construction and detailing of concrete railings, spandrel walls and ornamental lights.

One challenge was to create the concrete railings and light pedestals, which needed to meet American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials standards while replicating the appearance of the original railing.

As originally detailed, the railings were not strong enough to withstand the current design loads. Interior spindles, top rails and end posts were thickened to alleviate this problem. A high-strength concrete with microsilica was used to achieve a design strength of 8,000 psi.

Another challenge was detailing the ornamental lights, as the limited details available provided zero information.

Review of historic pictures and discussions with light manufacturers and foundries proved fruitful.

The last challenge, similar to the two previous, was the lack of information for the proper detailing of the architectural treatments of the spandrel walls at the piers and abutments. Details were created through the careful examination of historic pictures.
The jury said, "I'm bullish on the bridge! It's simple, clean and neat. It's so important to restore old bridges. The attitude is usually to tear them down. A very nice effort."

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