Photos by Scott McCloskey Construction equipment can be seen under the Fulton Bridges where the West Virginia Division of Highways plans to close the westbound lanes on Interstate 70.

WHEELING — The scope of the I-70 Bridges Project has been a tremendous task, West Virginia Division of Highways District 6 Manager Tony Clark said on the eve his agency will shut down the westbound lanes of Interstate 70 to reconstruct the Fulton Bridge near the Wheeling Tunnel.

With the exception of several large cranes positioned next to the highway in that area, most of the preparation work has been obscured to the approximately 50,000 motorists traveling daily on that stretch of I-70.

The westbound lanes near the Wheeling Tunnel will be closed for nine months beginning Monday morning.

Clark said that as soon as general contractor Swank Construction was awarded the $215 million project late last summer, they immediately began work on site preparation in many areas of the project, including below the Fulton Bridge section of the highway.

“They immediately began work, but you couldn’t see it because it wasn’t happening above on the road surface,” Clark said while addressing the scope of the project. “The idea for both (Fulton) Bridges is to do as much work ahead of time prior to the closure as possible, so when the closure happens … (Swank) can be as efficient as possible.”

The two Fulton Bridges must be completely removed and rebuilt from the ground up, according to Clark. In recent months, the contractor created a web of temporary access roads, including a temporary bridge that spans across Big Wheeling Creek for construction vehicles to have access below the bridges.

Clark said while they have some personnel in the local District 6 office who have worked on projects of this magnitude in other regions, the DOH also relies on “outside consultants” for input on such an enormous project.

“We try to source as much expertise as we can … and evaluate and make changes as necessary,” Clark explained.

He said the Swank Construction will have their entire project traffic team out on detour routes on the first day of the closure to closely monitor traffic signals and make any adjustments with local traffic flow if necessary.

“On a typical smaller project we wound try to design the signage and everything and assume that would be adequate for the life of the project, but on this, as large of a project as it is, we are constantly monitoring the signage, the traffic, and making adjustments a necessary,” Clark commented.

The Oglebay Park Exit 2A westbound on-ramp heading toward the tunnel is scheduled to close about 5 a.m. to let construction crews get a head start on the work, according to Clark. The main “through detour” for motorists traveling west will be Interstate 470 West at the I-70 split in Elm Grove, while the local detour will begin at Oglebay Park Exit 2A near the Mt. deChantal Kroger and continuing west on National Road through Fulton, over Wheeling Hill and back down into North Wheeling, where motorists will be able to access the Fort Henry Bridge going west as well. All exits on the eastbound side of the highway in that area will remain open, until February of 2021, when construction is scheduled to start on the eastbound side of the Fulton Bridge.

Signs will be unveiled Monday morning to direct traffic to various detours.

The entire I-70 Bridges Project is expected to be completed by the end of 2021.