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It's not often these days that something comes along that catches the collective interest but such a happening is set to take place Monday and Tuesday on the Ohio River near Wellsburg.
Depending on the weather and river conditions, starting Monday workers with the Flatiron Corp. of Broomfield, Colorado, and supervisors with the West Virginia Department of Transportation will float the 830-foot-long main span of a new, $131 million bridge linking an area just south of Wellsburg to Brilliant, Ohio, from its staging area near Wellsburg. The float is about a mile and will allow the main span to be linked to already constructed piers in the river.
Aside from the float, which is scheduled to take place starting Monday morning, early Tuesday morning the main span will then be hoisted into place and connected to the existing structure. According to several people involved in the process, this is the largest and heaviest such lift to ever take place on the water, and will allow the next stages of the bridge construction to begin.
Consider this: 830 feet is 110 feet longer than two football fields including both end zones. The coordination of barges, those monitoring river flow and current and a host of other concerns that will be needed is simply amazing. One small mistake could lead to a host of problems.
The technical and engineering expertise needed to pull this off is amazing. For those of us who grew up playing with Tonka toys and other heavy equipment, dreaming of hoisting heavy items into the air and precisely placing them, it's like Christmas in April.
As of this writing, W.Va. 2 near Wellsburg will, at a minimum, operate under one lane of trafffic, and it could be closed entirely. Motorists need to plan their commute accordingly.
We offer the workers and supervisors of this project the best of luck in pulling this off as planned. A link to a livestream of the float will be available on our website, www.theintelligencer.net.