photo by: Gage Vota

Ohio Department of Transportation Regional Public Information Officer Morgan Eibel speaks to Bridgeport Elementary School fifth grade students about the Blaine Hill Bridge construction project occurring behind them.

BLAINE — Bridgeport Elementary School fifth-graders spent their Friday morning at the historic S Bridge, exploring Ohio’s oldest sandstone bridge, which was constructed in 1828 as part of the old National Road.

The annual field trip sees Ohio National Road Association members John S. Marshall and Jeff Aland speak to the children, informing them of the rich history of the bridge.

The field trip was the brainchild of Pease Township Parks and Recreation event coordinator Kim Mokros and Marshall.

“Her and I were talking about the area around the bridge, how it’s beautiful, and how we should do something to promote this beautiful, historic bridge,” Marshall said. “As a result of that, we developed the S Bridge educational program for the fifth graders at Bridgeport school.”

Mokros added that she wasn’t sure this year’s program would be possible due to the Blaine Hill Bridge construction project that’s right next to the S Bridge. She originally reached out to the Ohio Department of Transportation to see if it would be possible for this year and was delighted to find out that, not only was the program possible, but ODOT wanted to be included.

ODOT District 11 spokeswoman Lauren Borrell said that she and her team at ODOT were excited to talk to the students and educate them about the Blaine Hill Bridge, while also talking about careers at ODOT.

“We’ve got this exciting project going on, but the S Bridge is a very historical bridge, so to be able to share the history of the bridge and then to actually have the opportunity to see the rehabilitation going on is very exciting,” she said. “We’re very thankful for the opportunity to be out here with the public and the students talking about it.”

She added that the Blaine Hill Bridge construction project has had an exciting week.

“We reached a significant milestone in the project. The contractor removed the final beams from the bridge yesterday. So we have removed all 400 of the box beams from the bridge,” Borrell said. “Over the next month, they’re going to be doing repair work to the piers and preparing the bridge for those new beams. And we’ll be seeing those coming in November.”

She added that the construction project is still on schedule to be completed at the end of October 2026 with the bridge being open in summer of 2026.

Bridgeport Elementary Principal Anne Haverty Lawson said that she believes the trip is important because with the town’s name being Bridgeport it’s important to learn about the historic bridge that used to connect the town to the rest of Belmont County.

She added that the inclusion of ODOT to this year’s program is a great addition because she believes it’s never too early for students to start thinking about what they’d like to do as a career when they’re older.

The program also had vintage cars that Mokros said used to actually drive on the S Bridge. There was also a replica horse and covered wagon to show the children another type of transportation that was used on the S Bridge.

She added that she enjoys the program because it provides the students an opportunity to learn about history in their own backyard instead of just reading about it.