I-70 Bridges Project Moves Along On Schedule
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WHEELING -- The Interstate 70 bridges project continues to move along ahead of schedule, as crews with Swank Construction are expecting to reopen the Mount de Chantal Bridge section of Interstate 70 west in Wheeling by the end of this month.
West Virginia Division of Highways District 6 Engineer Tony Clark said he continues to be astounded by the amount of progress the general contractor has made this year in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and despite other challenges that crop-up in such a major project. In March of this year -- in the very early phases of the $215 million project and at the beginning of COVID-19 -- Swank halted construction for a two-week period because of the pandemic.
"Guys have really buckled down and it's just amazing to me seeing the amount of work happen despite COVID," Clark said.
He added the pandemic actually has significantly held down the numbers of motorists traveling on the local highways -- thus making it a bit easier for the contractor and DOH to manage the local detour for the overall project.
"We've noted in some traffic studies ... how much lower the (traffic) volume is than normal," Clark noted.
In addition, Clark said the dry weather over the summer months assisted the contractor significantly in meeting deadlines for the project.
"Generally ... it was pretty good weather for construction all around," Clark said. He said while the DOH has "inspection staff" and "consultant inspectors" out on the project, for the most part Swank Construction has been responsible for accomplishing all the actual work on the bridges project.
The I-70 Bridges Project includes the rehabilitation of 24 bridges on I-70 in Ohio County over a more than two-year construction schedule, with the full replacement of several spans above Wheeling Creek near Tunnel Green known as the "I-70 Fulton Bridges. All the rehabilitation work includes: building new decks or overlaying an existing deck and making any necessary steel or substructure repairs.
The project included the complete closure of the westbound side of I-70 where the Fulton Bridges are located since early this year. While that section of highway was recently open to traffic ahead of the scheduled Nov. 1 deadline, the Mount de Chantal Bridge section is expected to be finished by the end of October, according to Clark. The eastbound side of the highway in that area is expected to be closed from Feb. 1, 2021, to Nov. 1, 2021, as a break in construction has been scheduled to allow for the Oglebay Winter Festival of Lights.
While Swank Construction was able to do "phase construction" in many areas throughout the overall project, the Fulton Bridge structures had to be fully replaced, according to Clark. He said the total replacement of those spans is the largest phase of the entire project.
He said the new design of the Fulton Bridge structures are built much more efficiently than the old design, as there are less actual spans from abutment to abutment.
Clark said it has been amazing to see how quickly Swank has moved on the overall project.
"While weather and other factors have helped them, they (Swank) they also put a lot into meeting those deadlines and in this case kind of exceed them," he added.