bridge in the world. The

most striking feature of

the bridge is the huge

591 foot long and 196

foot tall steel arch span in

it’s center, consisting of

two levels; the upper

deck, which carries ap-

proximately 17,000 vehi-

cles per day, along with

bikes and pedestrian traffic. With the ending

of the streetcar operations in 1954, the sub-

way level stood empty with the ramps

leading to the lower level being covered in

1955. The subway level which included six

stations areas, four restrooms an electrical

control center and pedestrian tunnels that

provided access from one side of the sub-

way to the other, beneath the tracks.

Last year over 2,800 visitors traveled from all

over the country to take a glimpse at one of

Cleveland’s most remarkable and unnoticed

sites and came away from the tour with a

new understanding of Cleve-

land’s past. The Veterans

Memorial Bridge and subway

tour will be missed by many

this summer both young and

old, but, we look forward to

having a grand re-opening in

September 2015.

Veterans Memorial Bridge & Subway Tour

Public News For Public Works

J u n e 2 0 1 4 V o l u m e 4 I s s u e 5

The Department of

Public Works an-

nounces the cancela-

tion of the annual

Veterans Memorial

Bridge and subway

tour for 2014. This

free, self-guided tour

allowed visitors to

experience the origi-

nal streetcar station and tracks, unique views of

the Cuyahoga River, Lake Erie and downtown

Cleveland, and various

exhibits and films. For

the first time in thir-

teen years, the bridge

and subway tour has

been canceled due to

repairs, being adminis-

tered by ODOT. In

April, the 360 Construction Company, Inc. of

Brunswick began work on the subway level of

the bridge as well as repair work to the bridge

itself. Work will consist of patching, concrete

replacement, steel arch span paint-

ing ,along with drainage and sinkhole re-

pairs. An estimated completion date for

the rehabilitation work is September

2015. At the time of it’s completion the

historic bridge was Cleveland’s first high

level bridge over the Cuyahoga River and

also the largest steel and concrete reinforced

P a g e 2

The Innovation Program is off

to a great start. The Depart-

ment of Public Works person-

nel are submitting

some great sug-

gestions. The In-

novation Program

is intended to

eliminate waste,

improve efficiencies and en-

hance employee moral. All

entries submitted are re-

viewed by multi discipline

group of management staff, all

accepted innovations are

placed in a monthly drawing

and a random winner will be

picked for a $50 gift card. We

are happy to announce for the

month of May the following

DPW personnel had their

names placed in the monthly

drawing and their ideas imple-

mented. Floyd Williams,

suggested to extend com-

pressed air lines to service

additional bays at the Sanitary

Garage in Valley View. Floyd’s

suggestion was accepted and

will be investigated on what

the best way to optimize

compressed air delivery at the

garage. Meighan Hayden

and Natasha McDowell

suggested to have a water

fountain or dispenser installed

at the Huntington Park

Garage. Their suggestion

was evaluated and a Culli-

gan dispenser will be in-

stalled with hot and cold

water. Ms. Hayden had

an additional suggestion con-

cerning the upkeep of the

Huntington Park Garage.

Senior Project Manager,

Laurie Birschbach-Tober,

sent over a list of upgrades

and improvements being im-

plemented, as well as the

trades staff looking into light-

ing the outside of the building.

Brian Leahy’s idea regard-

ing a dedicated computer

with access to a county email

address was accepted. A ki-

osk will be installed along

with a computer. Personnel

will need to go through their

supervisor and the IT Depart-

ment to start up a county

email account. Derek

Thompson, suggested retir-

ing the hand written logbook

for PLATS and hiring addi-

tional staff. A portion of

Derek’s idea was accepted,

the department will look into

creating an excel spreadsheet,

scan the log with all of the

information that is needed

and share with co-workers

for their daily operations.

Dave Anielski, suggested

college students help with

summer work such as general

building and facility mainte-

nance. The idea was accepted

and recommended to the

Human Resource Department

to formally implement the

suggestion.

Natasha McDowell was

the winner of the $50.00

gift card!!!

We would like to extend a

thank you, to Sheilpa Me-

hta, Walter Bandza, and

Jeff Horvath, for submitting

their innovative ideas. Thank

you all, who participated and

we look forward to more

great ideas!

P u b l i c N e w s F o r P u b l i c W o r k s

Innovation Program

P a g e 3 V o l u m e 4 I s s u e 5

Kudos to the Bridge In-

spection Depart-

ment, Chief Sec-

tion Engineer Jeff

Horvath, Mainte-

nance Superinten-

dent Jim Hazimi-

halis, Sr. Bridge

Inspectors, Jeff Do-

bransky, Tony Franczak,

Dave Griesmer and En-

gineers Jim Kusner and

Matthew Pastorelle. The

staff perform bridge inspec-

tions in the following com-

munities; Bay Village, Brook-

lyn Heights, Cleveland, Mid-

dleburg Heights and North

Olmsted. The feed back

from service directors, engi-

neers and others in these

communities all say that the

county has provided such

excellent, worry-free, and

professional reports and

service, that they would like

to continue with us.

ODOT is moving to

their new Structural

Management System

(SMA) and many of

these same peers have

stated that they have

confidence in working with

Cuyahoga County, especially

when this new system is

rolled out. This is a testi-

mony to the hard work and

dedication of the Bridge In-

spection Team, diligently and

professionally performing

the work on a consistent

basis. This is the 8th year

that they have performed

inspections for municipali-

ties.

Jeff Mowry, Chief Informa-

tion Officer, stated that he

met an accountant who

represents Whiskey Island.

Jeff stated the accountant

raved about Michael

Chambers, Fiscal Officer

and how well he represents

the county taxpayers.

A thank you note from an-

other satisfied customer;

Ms. Tomiko writes that

Sanitary Sewer Mainte-

nance workers, Joe

Barry and Dan Petras

were so informative, kind

and courteous and above all,

hard workers when

they were out on a ser-

vice call to her home.

Joe and Dan were able

to locate the “clean

out,” which was not

able to be located for

the past 40 years!

Mutt Strut & Mingle, Sun-

Severe thunderstorms can

produce dangerous winds,

hail, and lighting. In ad-

dition flash flooding in

rivers and streams. In-

doors: Because light-

ning can travel through

air, plumbing systems,

and phone lines, stay

away from windows,

doors, sinks, and stay

off of land-line phones.

You may also wish to turn

off and/or unplug televi-

sions, computers and

other electronics in order

to protect

a g a i n s t

surges. In

a vehi-

cle: Any

fully en-

c l o s e d ,

m e t a l -

t o p p e d

car is considered a “safe

vehicle.” The metal frame

acts as a conductor of

SAFETY: electricity, and if hit, will

channel the lightning strike

away from your body.

While inside, do not touch

electrical devices. Out-

doors: There’s is NO

safe location when out-

doors during a thunder-

storm. Seek shelter imme-

diately in a nearby en-

closed building! If this isn’t

an option, reduce your

risk of a lightning strike by

avoiding open fields, hills

or ridge tops, tall trees,

water, and metal objects.

The other big killer in

thunderstorms is flash

flooding. The difference

between a flood and a

flash flood is that flash

floods result from heavy,

localized rainfall from slow

moving thunderstorms.

This often occurs around

small creeks and streams

that overflow during the

heavy rainfall.

day, June 8th from 11-3, be-

ing held at the Animal Shel-

ter. Dine to Donate, June

9th. at Quaker Steak &

Lube located at 5935 Canal

Rd. in Valley View. Quaker

Steak will donate 15% of

total food sales back to the

Animal Shelter.

Meet Blue Grass! Blue

Grass is a young male Chi-

huahua. This tiny guy is

friendly, independent and

camera shy. Come in and

meet Blue

Grass in

kennel #64.

Good News!!

Department of Public Works

www.publicworks.cuyahogacounty.us

2100 Superior Viaduct 1642 Lakeside Ave. 6100 W. Canal Rd.

Cleveland, OH 44113 Cleveland, OH 44114 Valley View, OH 44125

(216) 348-3800 (216) 443-6992 (216) 443-8201

EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT: Jessica Jadrych, is the

Radio Dispatch Co-

ordinator for the De-

partment of Public

Works, Sanitary Divi-

sion. Jessica has been a

part of the DPW team

for the last eight years.

One of Jessica’s daily

duties are, receiving and

dispatching crews to

residents homes, that

are experiencing sewer

problems. The Sanitary

Sewer Department ser-

vices 24 cities in Cuya-

hoga County, on average

the radio dispatch de-

partment handles ap-

proximately 50 calls per

day, on a severe weather

day the staff may receive

hundreds of calls from

distraught residents. Jes-

sica is also happy to help

coordinate and raise

money for the Charity

Choice and Harvest for

Hunger Campaigns.

When Jessica is away

from work she is spend-

ing every minute with

her three year old son

Anthony, who has just

signed up for the sum-

mer T-ball session in

North Olmsted. As

busy as Jessica is with

Anthony, she always

makes time to make

the drive out to North

Ridgeville to visit and

ride her horse Chablis.

P u b l i c N e w s F o r P u b l i c W o r k s

Human Resource Corner: Cuyahoga County wants to

keep its employee safe. If an

accident at work occurs, the

Department of Human Re-

sources Workers’ Compensa-

tion Team is com-

mitted to helping

the employee re-

cover and return to

full duty work.

Th e Wor ke r s

Compensation Team, led by

Donna Barthany has outlined

the procedures for reporting

work-related injuries. Cuya-

hoga County has chosen Uni-

versity Hospitals CompCare as

the County’s Managed Care

Organization (MCO) to pro-

vide medical management of

your work-related

injury. This means

they are responsi-

ble for filing your

claim with the

B u r e a u o f

Worker’s Compensation, pay-

ing the bills and approving

treatment in some cases.

For Medical Emergencies seek

treatment at the nearest medi-

cal facility or the County’s

Preferred Medical Providers.

The preferred providers are

listed in the Cuyahoga County

Injury Care Packet that is avail-

able at all locations. If you are

injured, make sure that you

complete the Cuyahoga

County Accident Investigation

Report and return the accident

report to your supervisor

within 24 hours after your

injury. Your supervisor should

immediately forward the origi-

nal accident report to the HR

Team at Public Works and

contact the County’s Worker’s

Compensation Office at 216-

443-5606 or 216-443-7232. If

you have any medical questions

you can call 1-800-818-7273.

Cuyahoga County also offers

an Alternative Work Program

for employees released with

work restrictions. This is an-

other important step in the

recovery process coordinated

through the County’s Work-

ers’ Compensation Team.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY~ JUNE!!!

6/1 Terry Pekarek 6/16 Fredrick Owens

6/4 Michael J. Gilleylen 6/19 Clifford Burgess

6/4 Nicole D’Aliberti 6/19 Frank A. Velotta, Jr.

6/5 Frank K. Kasmerski, III 6/19 Erik T. Zima

6/6 Christopher Nader 6/20 Teresa Kilbane

6/6 Patrick Vozar 6/22 Guy Swindell

6/6 Thomas Simon 6/23 Theodore J. Choukalas

6/8 Alexander Gonzalez 6/23 Lonnie Smith

6/8 June Gauss 6/23 Kevin Hackett

6/9 Stephen V. Danczak 6/24 Harry Hardy

6/9 David McConville 6/24 Jason C. Paro

6/9 Richard Verbic 6/27 Elizabeth A. Willey

6/9 Roger Periandri 6/27 Shannon Smith

6/10 Thomas McTaggart 6/28 Carl Jones

6/12 John Gribble, Jr. 6/28 David A. Toth

6/13 Patrick Coughlin 6/28 Rozell Griffie

6/14 Jospeh Maguire 6/29 Eugene G. Palladino

6/14 Rebecca Jarjabka 6/29 Paul Smith

6/14 Carmen Velez-Jackson 6/29 Byron D. Sah

6/14 Paul J. Stiffey 6/30 Brian Vigh

6/15 Aaron Lucky

6/15 Ramzi Halasah

6/15 Ginger Cox

6/16 John Sabo, Jr.