CINCINNATI — Most Cincinnati residents were surprised last week by a video showing a fire raging under the Daniel Carter Beard Bridge, also known as the Big Mac Bridge.

But it turns out the Federal Highway Administration saw it coming.

A year ago, in response to a fire that closed a bridge on the Santa Monica Freeway, the agency warned state transportation departments to be on the lookout for flammable, explosive or dangerous goods stored under bridges.

The Ohio Department of Transportation says it was already working on the issue when the federal memo arrived, but it’s unclear whether the 1,000 Hands Playground has ever come under the scrutiny of inspectors state highways.

“We’ve always looked for things that are obviously flammable,” ODOT spokesman Matt Bruning said. “In fact, during our examination, we found items such as semi-trailers, dumpsters, construction materials and debris from homeless people under our bridges. »

But playgrounds?

“There was no warning about playgrounds,” he said. “There was a warning about items stored under bridges. That’s what we were looking for: items stored under bridges.

WCPO 9’s I-Team examined all aspects of the bridge fire due to the road closures, detours and loss of business it caused in the I-471 corridor.

On Friday, November 1, around 3:30 a.m., the 1000 Hands playground at Sawyer Point Park caught fire, causing part of the bridge to burn. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced a state of emergency on Wednesday. “due to the unsafe conditions and damage.”

Authorities said no one was injured and no hazardous materials were burned, but the entire south side of the bridge, from Cincinnati to northern Kentucky, is closed indefinitely. One northbound lane is also closed while repairs are underway.

A release from ODOT says designs are being finalized for the shoring towers that will stabilize the bridge, with construction expected to begin at the end of the week.

Casey Jones, a Kansas City-based engineering consultant, said getting the damaged bridge back into service could take two months. Jones, who featured last week’s bridge fire on his YouTube channelsaid the repairs will require steel components that typically take eight weeks to order.

“I think ODOT officials recognized that not only were they replacing the girders that were damaged, but the deck was going to be replaced as well as the signal trusses,” Jones said.

On the question of whether the playground was made of flammable materials stored under a bridge, Jones said it would not be “beyond the imagination” to flag it as a potential problem.

“From my own experience, I know that many of these playgrounds are made of wood or plastic. They often have padding for protection against falls. A lot of them are rubber or synthetic material and of course if that starts to catch fire, they burn at a very high temperature,” he said.

Bruning said ODOT inspectors look for “obviously flammable” materials as opposed to items that could catch fire. He sent March 2022 photos from Google Maps showing that the I-10 overpass in California was being used as a makeshift warehouse.

“You can see shipping pallets, cardboard, vehicles and other flammable items that were stored under the bridge,” Bruning said. “This is what the Federal Highway Administration asked states to look for in their November 15, 2023 memo.”

Cincinnati Parks spokesman Rocky Merz said the playground is constructed of “composite wood with a cast-in-place rubber playground surface.” He also said a replacement playground could be planned months from now and “most likely in a different location.”

Cincinnati Parks warned its followers on Facebook last month that “staff and community members recently discovered ashes from a fire in various parks.” People responded to the Oct. 11 post to say they had seen evidence of fires in Ault Park and Winton Woods.

The I-Team asked Merz if these incidents were related to the Sawyer Point Fire.

“I would not want to speak on behalf of the bridge fire investigators or get ahead of myself. However, I believe I can say with certainty that they are not related,” Merz said. “Unfortunately, we often have people starting fires in areas of parks where they should not be. And it’s not necessarily related to camping. We were raising awareness on social media to deter activity in general.

The Federal Highway Administration memo provided no guidance on whether playgrounds were suitable under bridges, but it defined flammable as “capable of igniting easily and burning rapidly.”

He also cited a federal law that says: “…any structure, building, or facility that uses combustible materials (such as wood, wood fiber, plastic, etc.) that may present a fire hazard…do not may not be permitted under or near viaducts and bridges. , unless it is demonstrated that such uses would permit the safe and secure operation and maintenance of the highway facility.