Suspension Bridge Project Starting Soon | News, Sports, Jobs

Photo by Derek Redd
Workers prepare the Wheeling Suspension Bridge for its upcoming $17.9 million renovation project, which will be performed by Advantage Steel & Construction of Saxonburg, Pennsylvania.

WHEELING — Preparation work is underway for the $17.9 million renovation of the Wheeling Suspension Bridge.

Passersby may have noticed fencing has been installed to block lanes of the bridge.

One sidewalk is open and will be maintained during the estimated year-long renovation, said Matt Oskin, project manager for Advantage Steel & Construction of Saxonburg, Pa.

Advantage was awarded the $17,907,147 contract for the work by the state of West Virginia.

“We’re in the process of mobilizing. … Detours are being posted, road closures and signage is posted for the walkway,” he said on Tuesday.

Oskin said the bridge’s support cables are going to be replaced and will start coming down in June or July. The bridge’s main cables will remain, located on the downtown side, but new anchors will be drilled for them.

Oskin said there will be some steel work done on the bridge, but there isn’t much steel to replace. Demolition of electrical components is expected to begin in February or March.

The historic Suspension Bridge is beloved by many, which may lead some to believe that this would add pressure to the project. But Oskin said his company has experience in renovating similar bridges and has done so in Pittsburgh.

“It’s nothing crazy that we’re going to do. It’s a historic landmark and we will follow all the guidelines the historical society gives us through the state,” he said. “It’s pretty cut and dry. We have faith in the quality of our work. We will bring it back to its glory.”

Oskin noted the bridge’s piers are in good shape and will not need any major work. There is just one area of a pier on the Island side that needs some stone work where the Ohio River water has undercut it.

“It’s nothing structural or of concern, just keeping the water away,” he said.

Oskin said the state has a list of paints they are allowed to use to repaint the bridge. He believes it will be red, white and blue again.

“All of its splendor will be restored when it’s done,” he said.

The bridge – constructed in 1849 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 – has not had any vehicle traffic on it since September 2019. In June 2019, a Coach USA Lenzer bus larger than the bridge’s two-ton weight limit crossed 1,300-foot span, damaging it. It reopened and closed several times before being closed indefinitely to vehicular traffic in September 2019.

Until then, it had been the oldest suspension bridge still in continuous use in the United States.

State Division of Highways officials have said previously that it is still undetermined whether the bridge will be reopened to vehicle traffic following the renovation.