Traffic projects under way BUSINESS, INDUSTRY and TRANSPORTATION
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 28, 2018
PROGRESS V - SECTION A
Warren Scott
Improvements expected to ease flow, attract businesses C r e w s a r e w i d e n i n g a 9 0 0 - f o o t s e c ti o n o f s t a t e R o u te 7 s o u t h o f U n i v e r s i t y B o u l e v a r d t o a c c o m m o d a t e t h e a d d i t i o n o f t w o tu r n l a n e s l e a d i n g t o t h e b ou l ev a r d an d t h e Ve t er a n s M e m o r ia l B r i d ge. Th e $10 mi ll i o n p r o j e ct i s e x p ec ted t h e e a se t h e fl ow o f tr af f ic a t t h e b usy i nt e r se ct i on .
By WARREN SCOTT Staff writer Two major traffic projects are expected to ease the flow of interstate traffic and help attract new businesses and visitors to the area. After being discussed for many years, a new Ohio River bridge between the southern ends of Jefferson and Brooke counties is slated to begin construction this spring. Supporters of the span say it will provide another transportation artery between Ohio and West Virginia, particularly during emergencies such as rock slides along state Routes 2 and 7 and support development in the southern ends of Jefferson and Brooke counties. In preparation for the project, crews with Flat-
iron of Bloomfield, Colo., have begun taking core samples in an area about a mile south of Wellsburg. The span will extend from there to the intersection of Third and Clever streets in Brilliant, creating a link between state Routes 2 and 7. In January, officials with the Ohio Department of Transportation said crews are expected to begin construction of the Ohio abutment in April. Flatiron Corp. was selected as the general contractor for the $131 million project after submitting the lowest of three bids and a proposal that reduced the anticipated completion date by a year. To complete the bridge by spring 2021, the company plans to build the span in segments elsewhere, then ship them by barge to
the project’s site. The bridge will be a tied arch span, consisting of an overhead arch and deck that resembles a bow being drawn to fire an arrow. Examples of tied arch spans include the Moundsville Bridge, Fort Henry Bridge in Wheeling and Pittsburgh’s Fort Pitt Bridge, which was the first computer-designed span of its type. The bridge is slated to include two lanes for vehicles and a third for bicyclists. The third lane also may be used by vehicles when either of the other two is closed for emergencies or repairs. There are plans to tie the bridge into the nearby Brooke County Pioneer Trail. It’s the first West Virginia project for Flatiron but not the first bridge to
be built by the company, which is a division of German-based HOCHTIEF, one of the world’s largest construction firms. Other bridge projects for the firm have included the Alberta, Canada’s Athabasca River Bridge, a 108-foot-wide, 10-lane span with a capacity of 1,212 tons; and the Carquinez Suspension Bridge, a span near San Francisco comprised of 24 steel decks weighing 600 tons each. The bridge will be funded through a private-public partnership between Flatiron the West Virginia and Ohio departments of transportation. It involves the contractor financing the project up front and being reimbursed over five years as federal highway dollars become available.
A 2000 study by the Brooke-HancockJefferson Metropolitan Planning Commission determined the need for a new Ohio River bridge, citing the advancing age of the Market Street and Fort Steuben bridges, the latter since demolished, and the distance between the Veterans Memorial Bridge and other Ohio River crossings in the region. It also noted the two older spans’ weight limits that prevent either from being used by heavy trucks. Another study in 2003 and a volunteer committee of about 30 public officials and community members selected the WellsburgBrilliant location. The same group also
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