{"nrhp_refnum":"85001801","name":"West Fifth Street Bridge","other_names":["Route 531 Bridge","Ashtabula County Lift Bridge"],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"SR 531 over Ashtabula River","address_restricted":false,"city":"Ashtabula","county":"Ashtabula County","state":"OH","lat":41.900415089000035,"lon":-80.79775778499999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1985-08-23","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Engineering"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A single-leaf Mystic-type (Brown balance-beam) bascule bridge carrying SR 531 over the Ashtabula River near the Lake Erie harbor in Ashtabula, Ohio, built in 1925 by Kell-Atkinson Construction.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is the only single-leaf bascule bridge remaining on the Ohio state highway system. It also represents the work of two early bascule bridge innovators, Thomas E. Brown and his son. It has local importance at the east end of the Ashtabula Harbour Historic District.","narrative":"Carrying State Route 531 across the Ashtabula River near the Lake Erie harbor, this 235-foot lift bridge was built in 1925 by Kell-Atkinson Construction. It is a single-leaf bascule of the Mystic, or Brown balance-beam, type, with a 156-foot Warren truss span that rotates a full 90 degrees while overhead counterweights move through only 70 degrees. A 420-ton concrete block serves as the counterweight. The design reduced steel, weight and cost. It was developed by Thomas E. Brown and his son, early innovators in bascule bridge design, and was first used at Mystic, Connecticut, in 1922. Wendell P. Brown designed the Ashtabula version, which has a more sophisticated balance-beam truss and a truss main span rather than a plate girder. The bridge was listed because it is the only single-leaf bascule left on Ohio's state highway system and because of its place at the east end of the Ashtabula Harbour Historic District.","period_of_significance":"1925","architect_builder":"Kell-Atkinson Construction","architectural_style":"Mystic type (Brown balance-beam) single-leaf bascule bridge with Warren truss","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Listed as occupied and in use for transportation; condition marked fair and unaltered; a rehabilitation program was planned.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:14.584117-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/85001801.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85001801/f1cf5777a3-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85001801/f1cf5777a3-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 2.0","author":"Jeff Kubina on Flickr","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ashtabula_Liftbridge_silhouette.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jeff Kubina on Flickr</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ashtabula_Liftbridge_silhouette.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71986695","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashtabula_lift_bridge","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4805935"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/ashtabula-county/west-fifth-street-bridge-85001801/"}