PARKERSBURG — The Corridor D bridge spanning the Ohio River at Blennerhassett Island is on track to be completed in November, a West Virginia highway official said Monday.
Rusty Roten, District 3 engineer for the West Virginia Department of Transportation, said the bridge should be completed by November.
“As far as I know there’s been nothing to set it off track,” he said.
At $119.9 million, the bridge project is the largest, single highway contract in West Virginia history.
Although the weather has impeded construction at times, work has been progressing well as of late, officials said.
The bridge has been built from the Ohio side of the Ohio River toward West Virginia.
The 4,009-foot-long bridge will complete the four-lane upgrade of U.S. 50 from Clarksburg to the Ohio line. The route was one of the original 23 Appalachian corridors selected in 1965 under the Appalachian Development Highway System.
The bridge, which is the final piece of the corridor, is a joint venture of the West Virginia Division of Highways and the Ohio Department of Transportation.
West Virginia’s share of the contract is about $16 million, with Ohio paying another $8.4 million. The remainder will be paid with federal funding, officials said.
The bridge will have more than 14,705 tons of structural steel, and will use 16.3 million pounds of plate girder steel. Nearly 1.6 million pounds will be in the continuous girder bridge of three spans, ranging from 140 to 179 feet, comprising the 494-foot approach from Ohio 618.
Posted with permission from The Parkersburg News & Sentinel
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