Bridge that connects Ohio to West Virginia near Pennsylvania border to reopen Monday afternoon
The Jennings Randolph Bridge, which connects Ohio to West Virginia near the Pennsylvania border, is scheduled to reopen to traffic on Monday afternoon.
The West Virginia Department of Transportation said all four lanes will open, with intermittent closures of the outside lanes happening until additional repairs are complete. At least one lane in each direction will remain open during these closures.
The bridge was shut down for emergency repairs on Dec. 11 after a federally mandated inspection discovered cracking in two welds on the steel bridge structure. Out of an abundance of caution, the West Virginia Division of Highways decided to close the bridge while repairs were completed.
The Jennings Randolph Bridge was built in 1977 using T-1 steel. At the time, welded T-1 steel was used often in bridge construction, but was later discovered that cracks could develop in welds joining the beams.
Recently, the federal government started requiring testing on all bridges made with T-1. WVDOT said it was during one of those tests that a few cracks were discovered.
Eighteen additional internal defects were also found that needed to be repaired before reopening the bridge.
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