HUNTINGTON Ƶ In what will come as a relief to Lawrence County residents, business owners and first responders, a month-long inspection is complete on the 31st Street Bridge in east Huntington and both lanes have reopened.
Contractors had been inspecting suspension cables on the bridge, which connects Huntington to Proctorville, Ohio, since Nov. 4. The West Virginia Department of Transportation said Wednesday morning the inspection led to Ƶminor repairs.Ƶ
ƵƵ a result of the repairs, the West Virginia Division of Highways (ƵDOH) will lift a 20-ton weight restriction from the span and return it to its full capacity,Ƶ the DOT said in a news release.
During the inspection, traffic was reduced to one lane, which caused delays in Proctorville and Chesapeake, congestion and stress on local businesses, which often rely on traffic from across the bridge.
The 31st Street Bridge Ƶ officially named the Frank Gatski Memorial Bridge Ƶ connects West Virginia with Ohio on the eastern end of Huntington.
Courtesy of the West Virginia Department of Transportation
Proctorville Mayor Bill Elliott told The Herald-Dispatch on Tuesday that both lanes of the bridge reopening would Ƶprovide relief to our community trying to get to work, to work and from work, and also provide relief for businesses that suffer from not being able to get West Virginia shoppers over here.Ƶ
Elliott said, throughout the process, he has been seeing a lot of feedback on social media, where he said he has tried to be as transparent as possible.
ƵThe community was really upset because it just seemed like Ƶ we hadnƵt been communicated to, and once I explained to them why the bridge was shut down to one lane due to, not just maintenance, but the safety of the bridge and the people, they seemed to settle down a little bit,Ƶ he said.
ƵBut it sure doesnƵt help peoplesƵ morale the way they go, they were cutting in the lanes, they were jumping out of traffic and passing eight and 10 cars at a time to get to the bridge, to get to the light. But I think it will, hopefully we can get back to normal.Ƶ
According to the DOH, a 20-ton weight restriction was placed on the 31st Street Bridge in 2018 after potential problems with some of the support cables were detected. Engineers did several rounds of non-invasive testing on the bridge, including magnetic and acoustic testing, before deciding to bring in a consultant to look inside the cables themselves.
During the most recent inspection, most of the cables looked at were fine, according to the DOH. Inspectors found some minor surface rust on one section of cable, and minor deterioration on 23 of 181 individual strands of wire in another cable. Both sections of cable were cleaned, treated against further deterioration, and re-encased.
Workers inspect cables on the 31st Street Bridge in east Huntington.
Courtesy of the Ƶ Department of Transportation
ƵThis is what we do,Ƶ said Tracy Brown, West Virginia Department of Highways state bridge engineer, in the news release Wednesday. ƵOur bridge inspection program worked. We saw something, we werenƵt sure what it was, so we did further testing and investigation to find out.Ƶ
While traffic on the bridge was reduced, there were safety concerns for those traveling to HuntingtonƵs two hospitals.
Elliott said local EMS figured out early on they would need to skip extremely long lines for the light signals at either end of the bridge by cautiously working their way around them and waiting for the light to turn.
According to previous reports, construction on the bridge was also causing delays at the Robert C. Byrd Bridge connecting Chesapeake and downtown Huntington.
However, bridge inspections continue to be necessary.
The federal National Bridge Inspection Standards, which mandate when and how bridges should be inspected, are based on the Dec. 15, 1967, collapse of the Silver Bridge in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, which occurred 57 years ago this Sunday.
Every bridge in the state is inspected at least every two years, and sometimes more often, the DOH said in the release.
Katelyn Aluise is an education and court reporter.
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