Ohio bridge, Bridge in Oudenaarde, Belgium

The Ohiobrug is a bridge over the Scheldt on the N441 Ohiostraat between Eine and Nederename, in Oudenaarde. The current span, built in 1982, replaced a 1954 bridge with a 37-metre span. Four bison statues with bronze plaques, kept from the earlier bridges, now flank the access road, set 250 metres apart with their backs turned to each other.

A steel bridge inaugurated in 1881 by mayor Achilles Van der Straeten linked Eine and Nederename. Belgian troops blew it up in 1914, the Germans destroyed their wooden replacement in October 1918, and American engineers of the 37th Division built a pontoon bridge during the Battle of the Scheldt. The 1928 rebuild was Belgium's first prestressed concrete bridge, funded by the state of Ohio; British engineers demolished it in May 1940, and the 1954 and 1982 replacements followed.

The bridge is named after the American state of Ohio, which donated the 1928 prestressed-concrete structure in memory of the Battle of the Scheldt. Four bronze bison statues with commemorative plaques flank the access road, and since 2011 the statues and plaques have been protected as heritage.

The bridge carries the Ohiostraat (N441) between Eine and Nederename. The four bison statues now flank the access road, standing 250 metres apart with their backs turned to each other, so look for them at either end rather than on the span itself. The 2011 heritage protection covers the statues and the bronze plaques.

The name honours the US state of Ohio, which donated the 1928 prestressed-concrete bridge in memory of the Battle of the Scheldt; the four bison statues refer to the American 37th Division. Since the 1982 rebuild the animals stand 250 metres apart, backs turned, unlike their original facing attack posture.