Just Askin': Is it actually called the Big Mac Bridge?

The Enquirer's Just Askin' series aims to answer the questions that no one seems to have an answer for, not even Google.

As commuters cross the Ohio River over Interstate 471, they're greeted by golden arches. And no, it's not a fast food restaurant.

Most Greater Cincinnatians know the yellow monstrosity over the Ohio River as the Big Mac Bridge. Ever heard it called anything else? Us, either.

People loved the name, and it quickly caught on. What's it actually called?

Question: What's the story behind the Big Mac Bridge?

Answer: It's officially the Daniel Carter Beard Bridge, but no one really ever called it that, according to Ohio History Correction historian Marlise Schoeny.

Plans for the bridge were approved in 1970 and the bridge was dedicated in 1977. It is named for a founder of the Boy Scouts of America, who grew up in Cincinnati and Covington.

The structure started going up. There were suddenly two large arches that were, in fact, yellow.

And according to Schoeny, that was enough to make the Big Mac Bridge nickname stick from the get-go.

As locals caught onto the bridge's cheeseburger homage, the word around town in the early 1980s was McDonald's was trying to establish a floating restaurant at the Newport riverfront.

Newport City Manager Thomas Fromme, who was working for the city at the time as a police officer, said it was nothing more than a rumor.

But it's fun to imagine a restaurant with a float-thru window selling burgers and shakes on the Ohio River.

Have questions about Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky? Send them to [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: No one ever called it the Daniel Carter Beard Bridge. Here's why.