Photo by Eric Ayres City and state officials are hoping that work will soon begin on the highly anticipated replacement of the Washington Avenue Bridge in Wheeling. The $5.3 million project could start as early as the end of this month, and the span over Wheeling Creek in a busy area of the city is expected to be closed to all traffic for nearly a year.

WHEELING — Officials are hopeful that work on the long-awaited replacement of the Washington Avenue Bridge in Wheeling can begin as early as this month.

Some delays have been experienced because of related utility work that needs to be completed in close proximity to the bridge before construction can start, but a contractor is expected to be ready to go on the work as soon as all other projects are wrapped up.

“With utilities, it’s kind of out of our hands right now,” said Brian Kucish, District 6 engineer at the West Virginia Division of Highways. “But as of right now, the contractor can’t do anything before they clear everything up.”

Kucish said the work may have to begin in December, but officials remain hopeful that work can start sometime later this month.

Because the work will involve a replacement of the bridge, the span will be closed through the duration of the project, which is expected to last for several months and could stretch into the fall of next year.

Wheeling City Manager Robert Herron updated members of city council this week on the status of the project and the planned bridge closure.

“It was initially thought that the project would begin in October,” Herron noted.

“There have been some delays as a result of utility relocations, and I can tell you that AEP now has all of the easements necessary for pole relocation. They are scheduling that pole relocation and electric line relocation. Right after that, Frontier will have to relocate their fiber optic lines.”

This week, Kucish added that AEP was finalizing the related environmental permits related to their work at the site. Officials have noted that work that requires removal of natural vegetation must address certain environmental issues and endangered species regulations related to concerns about habitats of bats in the trees and mussels in the creeks.

Hence, any removal of vegetation related to the bridge replacement project is not expected to take place until after Nov. 15.

City and state DOH officials met recently and discussed the status of the project, one that is expected to create a significant traffic detour in a busy area of town.

“I can tell you the DOH is pushing to get this project started,” Herron said. “The city of Wheeling does have some sewer work that needs to be done in front of the bridge, which will begin the closure. That will take us a few days.”

Contractor Charles J. Merlo Inc. of Mineral Point, Pa., was awarded the $5,342,000 contract for the complete bridge replacement.

Over the past several years, the Washington Avenue Bridge has remained structurally sound and able to maintain vehicular traffic, but it has received poor ratings during inspections. This ultimately led to its load limit to be reduced to only 5 tons. School buses and fire engines cannot cross the span with this weight limit, officials have noted.

The bridge was temporarily closed three years ago while repairs were made to the structure in order to keep it open until plans were solidified to get it replaced.

While the busy traffic artery is a key access between National Road and WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital, its nearly year-long closure in the coming months is expected to affect the smaller vehicles that are currently within the restricted weight limits.

Once the bridge is repaired, however, the new bridge will be able to handle larger, heavier vehicles traveling through this stretch of Washington Avenue again for the first time in many years.

Officials noted that the Washington Avenue Bridge has a unique design – a floating cantilever design – which is not favorable by today’s standards and tends to be problematic in terms of maintenance issues. The new bridge is slated to be a concrete structure.

Two different options had originally been explored for the method of replacing the bridge. One option maintained one lane of traffic during construction and another option was to completely close the bridge while it was being replaced. Early estimates showed that the option of maintaining traffic would be much more expensive, officials explained.

“It is a full closure,” Herron said. “I would anticipate closure probably through August or September of next year.”

City officials said they are also hopeful that the project can begin sometime later this month.

“I would anticipate closure of the bridge sometime during the month of November – according to DOH, and I don’t want to speak for them, but that’s the information they’ve given us,” Herron said. “They will give notice, and as soon as we receive notice, we’ll post it as well. But work is progressing, and they are trying to get this project begun and under construction as quickly as they possibly can.”