Utility Bridge Replacement at The University of Toledo

Replacing a deteriorating bridge over the main route through campus involved engineering for MUCH more than extensive vehicle and pedestrian traffic at The University of Toledo. Many of the buildings on campus are heated and cooled through a 12-inch steam line attached to the bridge. All IT, telephone and cable connections were also connected to the structure. JDRM's solution: a utility bridge, separated from pedestrian and vehicle traffic.

The University of Toledo main campus is built on the north and south sides of the Ottawa River, a seemingly small tributary with a huge impact on operations. The main connecting point for vehicle, pedestrian and utility traffic is a bridge on Stadium Drive. Before replacing the deteriorated structure, the University asked JDRM Engineering to provide a solution to relocating the main communications connections which were all attached to the bridge.

JDRM’s solution encompassed 24 single mode and 48 multimode strands of fiber; 1,800 pair of telephone, 6 coax and Buckeye Cablevision cable which spans the river on a utility bridge. Both ends of the connections were spliced in an enclosure inside manholes for a total of 3600 telephone splices, 144 fiber splices, and 12 coax splices. All this cable linked the technology services between the south and north sides of the campus through a 100-foot truss bridge which weighed 35,000 pounds when fully loaded with the pipe and conduit.

Engineering was completed so construction of the project could be performed during a three-month period. The steam line and communication systems were out of service on campus for ONLY one weekend during spring break.