More falling concrete extends closures on Western Hills Viaduct

Parts of the Western Hills Viaduct remain closed Tuesday, after a second incident of falling concrete in as many weeks.

The westbound lane on the north side of the bottom deck is closed so crews can investigate the issue, the city's Department of Transportation & Engineering said in a press release.

Like last week, the falling concrete did not injure any people or property, the city said.

Concrete fell from the top to the bottom deck on Monday morning, about 200 feet to the east of where the same thing happened a week earlier on the 91-year-old structure.

Parts of the viaduct were closed last Wednesday and Thursday and Monday of this week for emergency repairs to address the earlier damage.

In that case, concrete fell from the top to the bottom deck after city crews patched an expansion joint in the middle of the top deck with asphalt. Workers then replaced the patch with concrete.

The two incidents don't appear to be related, the city said in its release.

"This second site is under review," said Bill Shefcik, the transportation department's principal bridge engineer.

Colder temperatures on Sunday night may have contributed to the current issue, Shefcik said.

The city will provide an update after "we've gotten a close look," he added.

In 2021, the city installed nets to catch falling debris on the viaduct. The double-decker structure, which carries 55,000 vehicles a day, has been considered functionally obsolete since at least 2007.

A key connector between the east and west sides of Cincinnati, the viaduct will be replaced with a new bridge by 2030. Preliminary work on the new $398 million Western Hills bridge, to be located just 50 feet south of the existing viaduct, is underway.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Why is part of Western Hills Viaduct still closed?