On Tuesday, July 30, 2013, Huron County, family, friends, and former co-workers from ms consultants remembered the late Wade Harvey during the Standardsburg Road Bridge dedication. A bridge engineer and a member of the ms family for nearly 40 years, Mr. Harvey passed away during the final stages of this rehabilitation project.
Mr. Harvey was dedicated to not only designing safe, aesthetically pleasing, and economical replacement bridges, but was equally devoted to restoring structures to preserve their historic and community values. When ms was hired in 2009 by Huron County Engineer, Joseph Kovach, PE, PS, to assess and rehabilitate the Standardsburg Road Bridge in Ridgefield Township, Mr. Harvey recognized during the early planning stages of the project the high potential to save the bridge. Originally built in 1926, the bridge is a 124-foot span steel Warren Through Truss structure crossing the West Branch of the Huron River.
Mr. Harvey performed the initial load rating analysis, which identified the limiting capacity bridge members. He evaluated alternate floor systems with options to lighten the floor loads and ways to strengthen or replace the controlling members so that the bridge could once again carry full legal truck loads. During this time, Mr. Harveyendured the advanced effects of cancer. Despite this, he continued to work on the bridge project, developing comprehensive details and watching over the design team.
Just before the bridge plans were completed, Mr. Harvey lost his battle to cancer on September 5, 2010.
In recognition of Mr. Harvey’s dedication to bridge engineering and to the restoration of the Standardsburg Road Bridge, Huron County held a dedication ceremony on the completely renovated bridge on July 30. The completed bridge renovation included an upgraded floor and guardrail systems and strengthened or replaced deficient bridge members. The old structure was dismantled and shipped to U.S. Bridge in Cambridge, Ohio, cleaned, and all members galvanized, prior to being shipped back to the site where it was re-erected on new elastomeric bearings.
To see photos and a video recording of the event, visit the Norwalk Reflector website.