West Virginia Gov., Jim Justice, joined by officials from the West Virginia Department of Transportation (WVDOT), recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the long awaited reopening of the Wellsburg Bridge.
The 1,875 foot bridge connects the communities of Wellsburg, West Virginia, and Brilliant, Ohio. The bridge was officially open to vehicular traffic on Thursday morning.
"This is an incredible day for both Wellsburg and Brilliant because we are finally opening a bridge connecting these two communities that is long overdue," Gov. Justice said at the event. "This bridge is going to make life better for everyone who travels through West Virginia’s Northern Panhandle.This is truly an incredible day, and I'm proud to see another bridge project across the finish line. The bridge might be in the Northern Panhandle, but this is a great day for all of West Virginia.”
Flatiron Construction, headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado, was awarded an approximately $131 million contract for construction of the new bridge. The 830-foot main span of the bridge was built off-site on the bank of the Ohio River just upstream from the bridge site.
Construction began in 2018. On Monday, April 26, 2021, the 4,100-ton main span was hefted onto two sets of barges, floated downstream to the bridge site, and slowly jacked up to rest on its support piers. The operation took more than 13 hours.
"If you check your history, this bridge was the heaviest lift in North America when it occurred," Randy Damron, WVDOT spokesman said. "At that time three years ago, it was a really big deal that Flatiron was able to do that. This is nothing short of an engineering marvel."
The bridge will reduce travel time between the two communities, provide a new river crossing for commerce, spur economic development on both sides of the Ohio River, and provide another way across the river if work needs to be done on neighboring spans.
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Source: West Virginia Governor's Office
