Light atop High Level bridge to cost state $37,213

The Anthony Wayne Bridge has four of the tower lights, each eight feet tall.

At $37,213, it is one of the smaller contracts the Ohio Department of Transportation will award this year, but its result will be among the most prominent.

E.T. Electric Ltd. of Toledo has a Sept. 30 deadline to replace a light that fell from atop a suspension tower on the Anthony Wayne Bridge during a Dec. 1, 2006, wind storm.

Since then, the spot the light occupied - one of four atop the bridge's two towers - has been empty.

"It's going to be great to have that piece of that classic bridge back up," said Theresa Pollick, an ODOT spokesman in Bowling Green.

The contract was awarded May 14, but the installation won't occur for several months because the replacement lamp is a custom-fabrication job, Ms. Pollick said.

While they may not look it from street level, the lamps atop the Anthony Wayne's towers are eight feet tall. Like the others, the new one will contain a 400-watt sodium-vapor light fixture.

E.T. Electric's contract includes repairing wiring and paint that were damaged when the old lamp broke free and crashed to the pavement, causing no injuries or vehicular damage.

The other lamps were inspected, and reinforced where necessary shortly after the fall to ensure there would be no repeat incidents, Ms. Pollick said.

Once the replacement lamp is ready for installation, the bridge will have to be closed for part of a day to do the work, the spokesman said.

The closing is likely to be scheduled on a Sunday to minimize its impact on traffic, she said.

The Anthony Wayne Bridge, also known as the High Level Bridge but recently eclipsed in height by the Veterans' Glass City Skyway, carries State Rts. 2, 51, and 65 across the Maumee River just upstream from downtown Toledo.