By BRETT DUNLAP
9/8/05 - PARKERSBURG - The Corridor D project through Wood County has been awarded $8.3 million to finish the road leading to the to-be-built Blennerhassett Bridge.
Another $3 million was awarded to an Ohio company to replace a bridge over Slate Creek.
West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin announced the contracts this week as part of $15.3 million being awarded by the state Division of Highways for various projects around the state.
''The Corridor D contract will pave roadway from the remainder of the four-lane Parkersburg area highway to the Blennerhassett Bridge over the Ohio River, now under construction,'' Manchin said.
The $8.3 million Corridor D project in Wood County, which was awarded to West Virginia Paving Inc. of Dunbar, calls for 1.32 miles of pavement from W.Va. 892 to County Road 30 in the Greenland Addition area. The work also includes signing, pavement striping and installation of lighting and a traffic signal at each of two intersections of U.S. 50 and W.Va. 892 at the eastbound exit ramp.
WVDOH District 3 construction engineer George Shinsky said this is the second time these projects were awarded. Changes had to be made to the intitial costs and bid out again, he said.
The construction company is awaiting the money and should be starting on the Corridor D road by the end of this month, Shinsky said. Crews will work as long as the weather allows, usually until November/December, and stop for the winter. Odds and ends will be handled over the winter months, before the paving work picks up again in April.
The road is expected to be completed next year, Shinsky said.
The roadway has been graded and is ready to be paved.
''Once paved, the road will connect the interstate to DuPont,'' Shinsky said.
The Velotta Co. of Sharon Center, Ohio, was awarded a more than $3 million contract for an upstream replacement of the bridge carrying W.Va. 14 over Slate Creek north of the Wirt County line using a single-span prestressed girder structure.
Shinsky said plans call for the traffic pattern to remain the same as the bridge will be constructed next to the old one. When the work is completed, traffic will be moved onto the new bridge and the old bridge will be torn down.
There was no priority for the bridge to have work done, Shinsky said.
''There are around 700 bridges in the district,'' he said. ''This one was next to have work done (as soon as the money was available). ''It would have lasted several more years.''
The bridge is expected to be completed by Aug. 31, 2006.
Posted with permission from The Parkersburg News & Sentinel
Back
to Press
