Corridor D Bridge
3/5/2008
PARKERSBURG — The Blennerhassett Bridge is expected to be open this spring, said officials with the West Virginia Department of Transportation.
The 4,009-foot Blennerhassett Bridge, which spans the Ohio River and Blennerhassett Island, is the last major component of the Corridor D project to be completed, said State Highway Engineer Marvin Murphy.
The Corridor D project in Wood County is an 11-mile multi-lane highway connecting U.S. 50 in Wood County with U.S. 50 in Washington County at Porterfield. The entire corridor goes cross country from Washington, D.C., and was designated as a corridor in the Appalachian Development Highway System by the Appalachian Regional Development Act of 1965. It was later designated as part of the National Highway System.
Officials still have a few months of work to complete on the project, consisting mostly of bridge deck work, said Karen Zamow, WVDOT spokesperson.
“It all depends on the weather and how quickly they are able to do the work,” she said. “Right now, it is right on track.”
A final completion date has not been announced yet, but officials believe they will know as more work is completed. A lot of the remaining work is dependent on being able to maintain a warm outdoor temperature, Zamow said.
The bridge is the largest project West Virginia has let in one total contract costing around $120 million, Murphy said.
“It has been a very good project,” he said. “It has been one that has had good cooperation among all sources. The struggle to get this bridge across the river was not easy.”
At one time, it was believed the bridge would have been completed by the end of August 2007. Then the completion date was moved to the end of November. Now it is expected to be completed this spring.
“We had a very aggressive schedule from the beginning,” Murphy said. “We had made some changes to the design on the deck, which has delayed us a little further along in the project. Those were necessary changes we were more comfortable with making at that time during construction.”
The majority of the work remaining includes a latex modified concrete overlay on the bridge deck, which needs warmth to cure.
“That will require 50-degree days to do,” Murphy said.
The overlay will take at least seven weeks to put in place.
“The other thing we have to do is the stressing of the arch cables themselves,” Murphy said.
As of Feb. 14, Zamow said work was underway on tightening the arch cables. The other cables on the bridge are tightened to continuously support the load.
“That has to be done in a certain sequence,” Murphy said. “That is suppose to be done after the overlay is in place and has cured.”
Officials estimate the tightening of the cables will take around six weeks to complete.
Other work will have to be done in restoring Blennerhassett Island, including top soil placement, tree replacement and the placing of bird boxes, which is expected to take five weeks. Another four weeks will be required for the earth work along the approaches, two weeks for the road striping and eight weeks of electrical work putting in lighting and more.
Construction of the new bridge and its approaches was handled by Walsh Construction and a crew of around 220.
Officials from around the area have said the completion of Corridor D will open up new areas of development. A commercial development is already under way at Neal Run Crossing near Lubeck, adjacent to the Corridor D highway. With new access, the road will also help cut down on heavy trucks continually rolling through the city streets of Belpre and Parkersburg.
The Ohio side approaches are ready to open, said Stephanie Filson, spokesperson for ODOT District 10. The $22 million portion of the project handled by ODOT includes five small roadway bridges and the approaches to the main bridge outside Belpre.
“We are completely done,” Filson said. “Right now, West Virginia will be finishing up its work this spring.
“We are planning to open the whole thing simultaneously with a big ribbon cutting.”
Posted with permission from The Parkersburg News & Sentinel
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