Eastbound Lane Reopens on I-70 at Bridgeport

Motorists traveling east on Interstate 70 from the Bridgeport exit likely were pleasantly surprised Tuesday morning to see the lane open and traffic flowing on that section of the newly refurbished bridge.

Work to remove the barriers that created the former crossover on the bridge during the project began Monday.

Tony Clark, West Virginia Division of Highways District 6 Engineer, said when additional work to remove old concrete median barriers is completed, the traffic patterns will be crossed over once again – this time to the passing lane on the Westbound side of I-70.

The work is part of an overall $214 million I-70 Bridges project that has involved the rehabilitation of 26 different bridges along I-70 from the Ohio state line through to the Middle Creek Road area.

Clark said the contractor estimates that the majority of the work will be completed this November.

“As of right now both lanes will be open in both directions by early November,” Clark said.

He added there will besome finishing touches that will occur next year, such as some concrete repairs underneath some bridge units, and protective concrete coatings throughout.

Swank Construction Co., of Kensington, Pennsylvania, was the winning bidder for the project back in July 2019. The work began in Fall 2019 and has consisted of replacing concrete and steel beams in the bridges.

The repainting of the Fort Henry Bridge from green to a bold blue has been perhaps the most visible aspect of the project. The steel undercarriages of the bridges are being repainted the same color blue to match.

Back in March 2020 the COVID-19 pandemic only caused a two-week pause on the project and was done as a precaution for the workers’ health, company officials said at that time.

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