Prior to visiting Cleveland, Ohio, the only lift bridges I'd ever encountered were of the cantilever type. The lift bridges in Cleveland over the Cuyahoga river were somewhat strange to me when I first saw them. With towers on both sides, the bridge lifts vertically to let boats travel along the river. These may well be common to many but they were new to me.
The two bridges in this view span the river at Carter Road. The blue bridge is active and carries the road traffic. The rusting bridge in front of it carried one of the railway spurs that used to serve the industrial area known locally as The Flats. There are several such bridges around the Flats but the railroads have been salvaged and the heavy industry that used to fill this area has either moved on elsewhere or closed. The raised bridges now stand as headstones on a dying chapter of this city's history.
It's said that a fire on the Cuyahoga River in 1969 sparked the birth of the Clean Water Act and formation of the US Environmental Protection Agency. The river was so polluted at that time that it was devoid of marine life.
The buildings in the background of this image form tower city, formerly the Cleveland Union Terminal but train service stopped her in 1977 and the buildings were renovated and expanded in the 1980s and 1990s to form shops, offices, hotels, restaurants and entertainment facilities.
On the far side of this complex facing onto Public Square is the site of the former Higbee's Department Store which featured in the 1983 movie, A Christmas Story. Closed as a store in 2002 and used partially since then as a visitor bureau, it's now due to become the Horseshoe Casino, opening in May 2012.
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