Ohio – Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park

Brandywine Gorge Bridge

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Summary

Cuyahoga Valley National Park’s most popular trail–the only trail to Brandywine Falls–has a critical 165-foot bridge in need of repair. Local trail groups, Cuyahoga Valley Trails Council and Cleveland Hiking Club, are actively advocating for the repair. Superior Trailsfunds would jumpstart the project for completion in summer 2016.

Project Description

A 165-foot bridge bridge on the Brandywine Gorge Trail is in need of $83,415 of repairs in order to re-open. Funding from the Superior Trails program would move the project to completion in summer 2016. Preliminary construction analysis, soil testing, and geological report are complete. Final construction designs and most importantly, funding, are required to move the project forward.

Brandywine Falls is the most beloved trail in Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Ohio. The park has over 2.1 million visitors each year and this trail experiences over 44,296 visitors each year (traffic count for Brandywine, not including overflow, NPS statistics 2014). The trail leads to the scenic 65 foot Brandywine Falls, carved by Brandywine Creek and features views of the creek and exposed layers of rock, and is at its most popular during fall color season.

Cuyahoga Valley Trails Council and the Cleveland Hiking Club, volunteer groups active with the park, have strongly advocated for repair of the bridge. The trail garners enormous public support. The bridge was damaged by a flood that moved a foundational pier and caused two of the three bridge spans to collapse in June 2014. Soil borings show the clay is extensive and the pier would be replaced with a floating slab on pile drivings to secure. A temporary bridge crossings installed near the water’s edge gets washed out during storm events. Currently there is no temporary crossing since the last bridge washed out late spring 2015 and not reset. This popular hiking loop is off Brandywine Falls boardwalk, one of the park’s most visited area. Hikers continue to cross the creek without safe passage.

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