The Wheeling Suspension Bridge was closed indefinitely to vehicular traffic in September 2019, after a Coach USA Lenzer bus exceeding the bridge’s 2-ton weight limit crossed the bridge and damaged it in June 2019. It was reopened and closed several times before it was closed indefinitely. W.Va. Gov. Jim Justice announced Monday that the state had awarded a bid for rehabilitation of the iconic bridge. (File Photo by Scott McCloskey)

WHEELING – Gov. Jim Justice and the West Virginia Division of Highways today announced that a project to repair and rehabilitate Wheeling’s historic Wheeling Suspension Bridge has been awarded.


Advantage Steel & Construction, LLC, was awarded a contract for $17,907,147 to make necessary repairs to the historic bridge’s superstructure and substructure, replace any damaged suspension cables, renovate lighting, and clean and paint the span.


The bridge has been closed to vehicles since September 2019, after drivers repeatedly ignored DOH weight restrictions and warnings on the structure.


The 1,300-foot span connects the city of Wheeling with Wheeling Island and opened in 1849. It was originally part of the National Road, the first major improved highway in the United States that ran from Maryland to Illinois.

It was the main passageway to the West and was the largest suspension bridge in the world at the time of its construction.
The bridge had been damaged early in 2019 after a tour bus that far exceeded the posted two-ton weight limit tried to cross, only to get stuck under a barrier.

Contractors will repair and renovate the bridge in hopes of repairing it to the point where it can be reopened to motorists.


Contractors won’t know until they begin work on the bridge whether it is damaged too badly to safely reopen to vehicles.


In December 2020, WVDOH rejected a single bid on the project that was far more than the DOH engineering estimate.
 Three bids were received during the Aug. 10 bid letting.