MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The state Division of Highways has awarded a $62.4 million bid to rehabilitate 13 Interstate 79 bridges from Clarksburg to the Pennsylvania state line over the next four years.
“Thirteen bridges will be renovated and another contract will be awarded to replace six more bridges in the same section road,” DOH District 4 Bridge Engineer Randy Harris said.
St. Albans-based Triton Construction has been hired to begin the work next spring. Harris said the bridge project along with the ongoing Fairmont interstate widening project is a combined $150 million investment into north central West Virginia.
Most of the bridge work will be rehabilitating the existing structure but some widening could require substructure work that will take more time and potentially cause additional traffic delays, Harris said. Each bridge has a slightly different scope of work based on needed repairs.
“One twin bridge is being widened at this time,” Harris said. “The other four, the abutments are being widened so the superstructure can be widened in the future.”
According to Harris, there are no interstate closures planned at this time for demolition or superstructure work, but that could change. Crews will give the traveling public as much advance notice as possible through the course of the project as traffic control measures are changed.
“The one at the state line is a replacement and it can be done anytime and there’s another bridge in this project that’s further south that can be done anytime also but for the most part, it will only be a couple sets at a time.”
Due to the length of the project and type of work motorists should plan for multiple traffic control zones in work areas that will require more driver attention. Also, because the project is spread over a large area, material deliveries at each site could create intermittent traffic delays throughout the life of the project.
“In most cases there will be two lanes of traffic in each direction at all times but there will be a couple cases where we’ll be down to one lane and in those cases be prepared to be delayed,” Harris said.
The completion date is May 27, 2027.