The single-lane Pleasant Valley Road Bridge was constructed in 1881 by the Wrought Iron Bridge Company of Canton, Ohio, as a 163-foot-long Whipple Truss double-intersection Pratt through truss. It replaced a wooden bridge that carried traffic across the west branch of the Chagrin River a few hundred yards downstream. One of fewer than ten of its kind remaining in Ohio and possibly the longest in Lake County, it was built to sustain Euclid-Chardon Road traffic on U.S. Route 6, known as the Grand Army of Republic Highway, and served that purpose until 1952, when a new high-level bridge bypass was constructed to the south. Designed with artwork and name plates atop the overhead portals to enhance its appearance within the valley, the bridge closed in 2001 and was dismantled three years later. Its components were taken to the Ohio Bridge Corporation for cleaning and inspection, needed members were replaced with high-strength steel, and all parts were metalized with a zinc coating. The bridge was reassembled on site in 2005 under the supervision of U.I.C. General Contractors. Its floor system combines structural timber and metalized high-strength steel, its traffic deck is made of 3-inch by 4-inch treated yellow pine boards with an asphalt overlay, and most of the truss visible above the roadway is the original wrought iron forged in 1881. The project was funded jointly by federal, county, and city sources, and the bridge is now owned and maintained by the city of Willoughby Hills.
