By MICHAEL ERB, Staff Writer
01/22/06 - PARKERSBURG — A major portion of the Corridor D project is nearing completion.
A key interchange was completed last year, allowing a smoother flow of traffic, said George Shinsky, District 3 construction engineer for the West Virginia Division of Highways.
“It is open all the way from the interstate (77) to the interchange that goes to Lubeck,” he said.
“We’ve had several good comments from several people.”
One more section needs to be finished before the project will be mostly complete, Shinsky said, an intersection near DuPont Washington Works that will allow faster travel for both commuters and commercial freight.
“All of those trucks (from the factories) will be able to hop on (U.S.) Route 50 and make their way to the interstate,” he said. “It is economic development. Better transportation usually means more businesses, which means more jobs.”
Shinsky said the final intersection should be completed by the end of summer.
“We will be opening the other section in July hopefully, maybe August,” he said. “After that there will be some little projects. Most would be classified as maintenance projects, nothing that would interrupt traffic.”
When completed, the four-lane stretch of U.S. 50 known as Corridor D is expected to connect Interstate 79 near Bridgeport with Interstate 275 near Cincinnati. It is part of the Appalachian Corridor system covering counties in 12 states from Mississippi to New York.
A major component of the Corridor D project that may take a while longer to complete is the bridge connecting West Virginia to Ohio.
Julie Hott, project engineer for contract administration with the Division of Highways, said work on the bridge, which crosses over Blennerhassett Island, has been progressing quickly and smoothly.
Crews have completed more than half of the 73 drill caissons which are used to hold the footers in place for the main bridge piers. Several footers and piers have been completed and work on the caissons is expected to be completed by the end of February, she said.
“I think we are progressing very well, and especially considering we are in a winter time period,” she said. “We have a very aggressive schedule.”
Crews have installed two coffer dams for the main channel river piers and have completed several smaller projects that have allowed work to progress on the bigger portions, she said.
The most dramatic work likely will begin this spring with construction of the bridge archway and the laying of steel girders atop the piers.
That work is scheduled to begin in April, and Hott said people will begin to see the bridge take shape.
“So far, we’ve been doing a lot of foundation work, and that’s not really visible,” she said. “I think people are going to be really excited to see the arch being erected.”
The DOH plans to have live Web-cam feeds on its Web site, allowing people to see in greater detail the work being done on the arch, she said. The cameras are in place, but the feed is not yet available online. Hott said an announcement on the webcams likely will be coming soon.
“It is all in place; we are just waiting for the hook-ups,” she said.
Posted with permission from The Parkersburg News & Sentinel
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