The I-280 Veterans’ Glass City Skyway: New Landmark

Cable-Stayed Bridge, Ohio

Wade S. Bonzon, PE, Resident Engineer, FIGG, Toledo, Ohio, USA

Introduction
The new Interstate 280 bridge over the
Maumee River in Toledo, Ohio, USA
opened to traffic on 24th June 2007.
This landmark cable-stayed bridge,
named the Veterans’ Glass City Sky-
way, is the largest bridge project ever
undertaken by the Ohio Department
of Transportation (ODOT) and incor-
porates unique structural and aesthetic
features. The centerpiece of the new
crossing is a 464,8 m long cable-stayed
main span unit featuring a 132,8 m tall
single pylon. All four sides of the up-
permost 60,7 m of the pylon are faced
in glass to honor Toledo’s heritage in
the glass-making industry. At night
384 light emitting diode (LED) based
fixtures behind the glass display more
than 16 million programmable color
combinations. The aesthetic features in
the main pylon are made possible by
the development of the new cradle sys-
tem for the stay cables. The stay cradles
carry the stay strands through a series
of parallel stainless steel tubes inside
a larger stainless steel outer sheathing.
The cradle eliminates the need for stay
anchorages embedded into the pylon
and their associated high tensile forces.
Instead, the stay forces are transferred
to the pylon concrete using compres-
sive stresses, taking advantage of the
natural strength of the concrete and al-
lowing for a more structurally efficient
pylon cross-section. The main span unit
was erected over the Maumee River
using precast concrete superstructure
segments, allowing shipping traffic to
the Port of Toledo to continue uninter-
rupted during the entire construction
process.
It carries Interstate 280 traffic over
the Maumee River, approximately one
mile east of downtown Toledo, Ohio.
The Maumee is the largest tributary
to the Great Lakes, emptying into the
western end of Lake Erie and at the
location of the bridge it is approxi-
mately 300 m wide. Because of its size
and location, the Maumee serves as
access to the Port of Toledo, one of
the busiest ports in the Great Lakes
shipping system. Interstate 280 is a
heavily traveled truck route and serves
as the fastest land connection between
the industrialized cities of Cleveland,
Ohio and Detroit, Michigan. Approxi-
mately 70 000 vehicles use this portion
of I-280 each day, with a large percent-
age of those being trucks involved in
interstate commerce. The new cable-
stayed bridge replaces one of the few
remaining movable bascule bridges on
the Interstate system.
Keywords: precast segmental cable-
stayed span; stay cradle; stainless steel;
LED bridge lighting; unidirectional
cantilever; glass.
Project Overview
Main Span Unit
The cable-stayed main span crosses the
Maumee River with two 187 m spans
that flank the main pylon (Fig. 1).
Twenty stay cables in a combined fan/
harp arrangement support the precast
concrete segments of the superstruc-
ture with deck-level anchorages locat-
ed every 8,53 m. The stays are aligned
in a single plane along the axis of the
pylon and pass through the upper
pylon at 2,74 m intervals. The bridge
superstructure provides more than
37,8 m of vertical clearance and much
more than the required 61,0 m of hori-
zontal clearance for the existing navi-
gation channel. The main span unit is
designed to carry three 3,66 m lanes of
highway traffic with two 3,05 m wide
shoulders in each direction.
45 720 186 690
Fig. 1: Elevation view of the main span unit (units: mm)
The superstructure is comprised of
twin precast segmental trapezoidal
box girders. At stay anchorage loca-
tions, the two box girders are con-
nected together into a rigid frame
using a precast concrete delta frame
(Fig. 2). This triangle-shaped element
is connected with concrete closure
pours and post-tensioning tendons to
the adjacent box girders. Along with
diagonal concrete struts cast into the
adjacent box girder interiors, the delta
frames transfer traffic loads from the
bridge deck transversely to the cen-
trally-anchored stay cables. A post-
tensioned concrete slab is also cast
to fill in the deck area between delta
frames. The use of delta frames to con-
nect two box girders greatly reduces
the size and weight of the precast ele-
ments needed to carry six lanes of
interstate traffic.
Main Pylon
The pylon (Fig. 3) is founded on 17
drilled shafts each with a diameter of
2,44 m and socketed 4,6 m into the
bedrock below the river. The drilled
shafts are connected with a 4,88 m
thick circular concrete footing with
a diameter of 31,7 m. The lower por-
tion of the pylon rises 48,4 m from the
footing to the underside of the bridge
superstructure. Except for the bottom
9,14 m, the pylon is generally rectan-
gular in cross-section, varying from
15,8 m in length and 8,5 m wide at the
base to 8,8 m long and 4,1 m wide near
roadway level. The pylon diaphragm
186 690 45 720

Structural Engineering International 1/2008 Structures in North America 43

x299.indd 43 1/1/70 1:06:16 PM

 3048 3658 3658 3658 3048 4674 3048 3658 3658 3658 3048
(Shoulder) (Lane) (Lane) (Lane) (Shoulder) (Median) (Shoulder) (Lane) (Lane) (Lane) (Shoulder)

3708
(Typ.)

Southbound lanes Northbound lanes

Main span cross section

3658 3658 3658 3048 3048 3658 3658 3658

3048 3048
(Shoulder) (Lane) (Lane) (Lane) (Shoulder) (Shoulder) (Lane) (Lane) (Lane) (Shoulder)

Delta frame
Southbound lanes Northbound lanes
Main span cross section
at stay anchorages

Fig. 2: Main span typical cross-section and cross-section at stay anchorages (units: mm)

Main Span Erection Method

6,30 to 8,84 Maintaining shipping traffic to and
from the Port of Toledo was deemed
a top priority during the design
phase of the project. The main ship-
4,06

ping channel is located just north of

79,88

B B Section B-B the central pylon, and is heavily used

during all seasons except winter. This
meant that any erection method for
8,84
the main span unit would need to
avoid placement of barges, cranes, or
other erection equipment within the
limits of the shipping channel. Erec-
8,53
4,57

tion of the main span superstructure

using the balanced-cantilever method
53,04

would have required placing seg-

Footing
4,88
Seal slab
Longitudinal
elevation
Fig. 3: Elevation and cross-section views of the main pylon (units: m)
is located at the level of the roadway,
and frames the continuous superstruc-
ture into the pylon. It also provides
an anchorage diaphragm for longi-
tudinal post-tensioning tendons run-
ning through the superstructure. The
upper portion of the pylon reaches to
80,7 m above the level of the roadway.
The upper pylon has a unique “cruci-
form”-shaped cross-section that varies
A A
15,80
Section A-A
Transverse
elevation
from 8,84 to 6,30 m in length and has
a constant 4,06 m width. This cross-
sectional shape provides locations for
glass panels incorporated into four
sides of the pylon. The glass panels
and the curved faces of the pylon con-
crete form four cavities through which
maintenance elevators can travel to
access the entire height of the upper
pylon.
ments and possibly cranes on barges
in the main shipping channel. Moving
this equipment out of the way for Port
of Toledo shipping traffic during the
spring, summer, and autumn seasons
could adversely impact the construc-
tion schedule. Therefore, the main
span unit was designed to be erected
from above using a combination of
span-by-span and unidirectional can-
tilever construction.
Erection Sequence
The erection of spans in the main span
unit began after completion of the
southern approach spans leading to
the main span using the span-by-span
method. Temporary steel truss towers
were assembled on temporary footings
founded on groups of steel pipe piles.

44 Structures in North America Structural Engineering International 1/2008

x299.indd 44 1/1/70 1:06:18 PM

 ded several steps when the temporary
piers supporting the back spans were
removed (Fig. 4).

Typical Cantilever Erection Sequence

The structural system and layout of
the main cantilever was intentionally
designed to be as repetitive as possible
26 27 A B C 29 30
Pylon to simplify the cantilever erection pro-
Temporary pier supports cess. Each cycle of segment erection
and stay cable installation followed the
same basic set of steps.
Upon completion of the previous stay
installation and stressing, the first step
in the typical cantilever erection cycle
was the delivery and erection of six
superstructure segments in two “mini-
cantilevers” of three segments each.
26 27 A B C 29 30 The last pair of segments had block-
Pylon
outs in their web walls into which
Temporary pier supports the lower corners of the precast delta
frame fit. The 82 t cantilever segments
were erected using Demag AC400 hyd-
raulic truck cranes located on the pre-
viously erected segments (Fig. 5). The
new segments were delivered to the
ends of the cantilevers using special
12-axle hauler trailers. All segments
were epoxied and post-tensioned to-
26 27 A B Pylon
29 30 gether using a series of post-tensioning
bars and multistrand tendons.
Temporary pier supports
Immediately after erection of super-
structure segments was complete, the
precast delta frame was delivered
to the cantilever tip using the same
12-axle hauling trailer and lifted into
position using one of the hydraulic
cranes (Fig. 6). Once the weight of the
86 t delta frame was transferred to sup-
port beams it was surveyed and aligned
26 27 A 29 30
Pylon for the proper angle of the stay guide
Temporary pier support pipe at that phase of construction.
The precast delta frame and the two
mini-cantilevers were then connected
structurally to each other with cast-in-
place closures at the bottom corners
of the delta frame and at the median
deck slab. After the concrete achieved
a minimum compressive strength of
27,6 MPa a series of transverse post-
29 30 tensioning tendons were stressed to
26 27 Pylon
complete the transverse structural sys-
Fig. 4: General sequence of main span erection tem, making the cantilever ready for
installation and stressing of the next
stay cable.
The back span portion of the main route to transport precast segments
span unit was then erected on the tem- and delta frames to the main cantilever
porary towers, creating four temporary for erection. As erection of the main Stay Cable System
spans that would later make up the cantilever progressed and stay cables
General Layout
187 m long permanently cable-stayed began supporting both the main canti-
span directly south of the main pylon. lever and the back span, the structural The stay cable system for the Veterans’
The completed back span portion of system of the main span unit began to Glass City Skyway incorporates seve-
the main span unit then provided a change. The erection sequence inclu- ral unique features. The main tensile

Structural Engineering International 1/2008 Structures in North America 45

x299.indd 45 1/1/70 1:06:22 PM

 Fig. 5: Erection of precast superstructure segments in cantilever
element consisted of 15 mm diameter,
epoxy-coated seven-wire strands, vary-
ing from 82 to 156 strands per stay. The
156-strand stays represented the lar-
gest known stay cables of any bridge
in the world. Each stay’s strands run
continuously from deck-level anchor-
age, through the main pylon, and back
down to the opposing deck-level an-
chorage (Fig. 7). No stay anchors were
located within the pylon itself. This arr-
angement was made possible through
the use of an innovative cradle system
that kept all the strands parallel to one
another in separate individual steel
sheaths as they passed through the
pylon. The strands remained parallel
to each other throughout the length
of the stay into each anchor, and were
further protected by a stainless steel
outer sheathing.
Main sheathing
Guide
pipe
Damper
Anchorage Superstructure deck
Fig. 7: General layout of stay cable system
46 Structures in North America
x299.indd 46
Fig. 6: Precast delta frame is lifted into place using a crane on the
cantilever tip
Stay Cradle System
Many modern cable-stayed bridges
incorporate stay anchorages in the
pylon. However, this requires design-
ers to counteract the high tensile forces
generated between these anchors with
large amounts of reinforcement and
post-tensioning. More recently heavy,
complex, and expensive steel anchor-
age boxes have been embedded in con-
crete pylons for the same reason.
The cable-stay cradle system was devel-
oped by the author's company during
the design phase of the Veterans’ Glass
City Skyway. Instead of generating
large tensile forces, the cradle system
transferred the load of the stay cables
to the pylon concrete through direct
radial compressive stresses, taking ad-
vantage of concrete’s inherent ability
Pylon
Cradle
Termination
sheathing
Damper
Anchorage
Structural Engineering International 1/2008
to efficiently handle large compressive
loads. This more efficient load transfer
resulted in a reduction in reinforcement
and cross-sectional area of the pylon
concrete. Because the cradle kept all of
the stay’s strands parallel and prevent-
ed strand-to-strand contact, it was fully
compatible with the monostrand stres-
sing systems that have revolutionized
the stay cable installation process in
recent years. This effectively removed
the limits on stay cable sizes previously
imposed by the large size and difficulty
of using multistrand jacking systems.
The cradle system consisted of an ex-
ternal stainless steel curved pipe. Inside
this outer sheathing, a series of indi-
vidual 25 mm diameter stainless steel
tubes carried each of the seven-wire
strands of the stay cable’s main tensile
element (Fig. 8). The individual strand
sleeves remained parallel to each other
throughout the length of the cradle
pipe, and their ends were flared to avoid
damaging the strands’ epoxy coating
during their installation in the field. The
interstitial space between the individual
sleeves was filled with a structural grout
with a minimum compressive strength
of 34,5 MPa to provide a load transfer
path for the radial compressive stres-
ses generated by each individual stay
strand as it passed through its curved
sleeve inside the cradle.
After grouting, the stay cradles weighed
approximately 4,5 t each, and were
lifted into place using a tower crane
attached to the pylon. Installation and
alignment of the cradles, similar to a
saddle pipe or a tendon deviator pipe,
was relatively straightforward. The
cradles were stamped with alignment
markings at each end and at the mid-
point, and those marks were surveyed
for proper elevation and alignment.
1/1/70 1:06:22 PM
 Space between sleeves Stay
is grouted cradle

Individual 25 mm stainless steel

sleeves for each strand Stay
sheathing

Stay
sheathing

Outer stainless
steel sheathing

Section A-A L Pylon

C

Internal sleeves
(number varies by stay) Grout vents

A
PC PT

Arc length

A
Tan
g ent gen
10 mm Tan t
Grout
end plate vent

Fig. 8: General layout of stay cradle

Monostrand Stay Stressing
A monostrand jacking system was
used to stress the strands in each stay.
Stressing the stay cable in this manner
required the construction engineer to
calculate an initial strand force high-
er than the final desired target force,
because force was lost in all strands
as they shortened during stressing of
the next strand. The initial force selec-
tion for stressing this first strand was a
function of several parameters includ-
ing the required “target” force, the ac-
tual surveyed length of the stay at the
beginning of installation, the expected
movement of the stay work points
during cable stressing, and the nomi-
nal cable weight. For proper long-term
fatigue performance of the stay cables,
the individual strands’ forces must be
as close to identical as possible. To
achieve this, the monostrand stressing
system relied on two electronic load
cells at each stay anchorage. One load
cell was attached to the first strand that
was stressed, which was designated as
the “master” strand. The second load
cell was a part of the internal compo-
nents of the monostrand jack. Each
time a new strand was stressed, it was
tensioned until its force from the jack’s
load cell matched the force as read
from the master strand’s load cell. To
maximize the accuracy of this match-
ing, control of the stressing jack was
taken over by a computer just prior to
its final stroke.
Each stay was stressed in two phases.
The first stage, which included instal-
lation and stressing of the strands,
brought the stay force to approxi-
mately 80% of its final target force. At
that time, the behavior of the structure
was evaluated and the master strand
force needed to achieve the proper
final stay force was determined. Stage
two stay stressing lasted for only a few
hours, minimizing the chances of un-
expected load changes on the bridge
and the effects of thermal changes in
the structure.
Each strand was stressed simultane-
ously at both anchors so that the nec-
essary force could be achieved without
overcoming the coefficient of friction
in the cradle sleeve and causing the
strand to slip. Due to the asymmetrical
method of cantilever construction, the
stay forces on the cantilever side of the
pylon were slightly higher than those
on the back span side.
Main Pylon Aesthetic Features
Pylon Glass
A series of public meetings was held
during the early stages of the design
of the project to establish an aesthetic
theme and choose from a variety of
design options. Toledo has historically
had a strong presence in the glass-mak-
ing industry, and is still known as “the
Glass City”. Consequently, a theme of
“Glass” was chosen to guide the deci-
sion-making process and determine
what special aesthetic features would
be incorporated into the bridge. It was
decided that glass would be a signifi-
cant part of the aesthetics of the main
pylon.
The development of the stay cradle
and the resultant elimination of stay
anchors in the pylon allowed much
greater freedom to incorporate glass
into the design. The final configura-
tion chosen by the Task Force includ-
ed glass panels on four sides of the
upper 60,7 m of the pylon as well as a
glass-clad, pyramid-shaped pylon top.
Behind the glass were access shafts
through which interior maintenance
lifts could operate for maintenance
and cleaning. The glass panels were
partially mirrored to reflect the sky
during the day but allow backlighting
to shine through at night. The laminat-
ed panels incorporated seven layers
with a total thickness of 33 mm. Each
glass panel (Fig. 9) was approximately
2,3 m wide and 1,4 m tall and weighed
approximately 204 kg. Forty-four glass
panels were attached to each quad-
rant of the pylon using an aluminum
framing system made waterproof with
structural silicone caulking, similar to
systems found in high rise buildings.
The system was designed so that indi-
vidual glass panels could be removed
and replaced without disturbing sur-
rounding panels. Installation of the

Structural Engineering International 1/2008 Structures in North America 47

x299.indd 47 1/1/70 1:06:36 PM

 Fig. 9: A partially mirrored glass panel is prepared for installation
into the upper pylon
glass panels progressed quickly once
the aluminum framing was in place.
All 176 glass panels were installed in
the pylon in approximately 10 working
days over the course of 2 months.
Aesthetic Lighting
Perhaps the most spectacular and
versatile aesthetic feature of the new
Veterans’ Glass City Skyway becomes
visible each night. A total of 384 LED
lighting fixtures were located behind
the glass panels of the upper pylon and
pylon peak. These fixtures were com-
pletely programmable using a personal
computer and were customized to dis-
play color schemes of the community’s
choosing.
Each fixture contained a group of red,
green, and blue light emitting diodes.
By varying the intensity of each of
these colors each LED fixture produc-
es any of 16,7 million separate colors.
The fixtures were combined to display
either static or dynamic “shows” that
represented various holidays, sea-
sons, and special events throughout
the year. The entire system was con-
nected to an astronomical time clock
to run from dusk to dawn every night
of the year. The highly efficient LED
fixtures were completely watertight
for use in outdoor applications, and
were expected to last approximately
20 years before they would need to be
replaced.
48 Structures in North America
x299.indd 48
Fig. 10: The pylon is lit with a patriotic color scheme during the
Grand Opening ceremonies on 23 June 2007
Conclusion service life. However, the aesthetic im-
pact of these first-of-a kind features is
The new Veterans’ Glass City Skyway profound, and the bridge is expected
in Toledo, Ohio incorporates many to become a new landmark not only
unique structural and aesthetic fea- for Toledo but for the United States as
tures. It was constructed from above well (Fig. 10).
by cantilevering from the main pylon
over the main shipping channel of the
Maumee River. All precast segments Acknowledgement
were delivered over the completed
Significant contributions to this article were
back spans, allowing uninterrupted made by Michael Gramza, P.E., Ohio Depart-
shipping to the busy Port of Toledo. ment of Transportation Project Manager for
The stays are the largest of any known the Veterans’ Glass City Skyway.
cable-stayed bridge in the world, with
up to 156 strands of 15 mm diameter.
The bridge is the first in the United
States to use low maintenance stainless SEI Data Block
steel stay sheathing, and the first to be
Owner:
designed with the new cradle system Ohio Department of Transportation,
for passing the stay cables through the OH, USA
pylon. The stay cradle provides an effi-
cient means of transferring cable for- Structural Design:
ces to the pylon concrete, eliminating FIGG Engineering Group, Tallahassee,
FL, USA
the need for anchorages in the pylon
and the associated additional rebar, Contractor:
posttensioning, or steel anchorage box. Fru-Con Construction Corporation,
The highly efficient force transfer also Ballwin, MO, USA
allowed the cross-sectional shape of (Quantities for Main Span Unit only)
the pylon to incorporate, for the first Concrete (m3): 23 690
time in any cable-stayed bridge in the
world, glass panels and multicolored Reinforcing steel (t): 2356
LED lighting for the upper 60,7 m of Prestressing steel (t): 716
the pylon above deck level. The glass
Stay cables (t): 700
panels and LED aesthetic lighting rep-
resent less than 1% of the total project Total cost (USD millions): 237
cost and are expected to require mini- Service Date: June, 2007
mal maintenance during the bridge’s
Structural Engineering International 1/2008
1/1/70 1:06:39 PM