The Wheeling Suspension Bridge has been closed to vehicular traffic for more than two years, and officials with the state Division of Highways have explained it will not be known if the historic span can safely be reopened until engineers are able to thoroughly inspect it once an $18 million project begins in Spring 2022.
The 172-year-old bridge has long had a weight limit of 2 tons or 4,000 pounds, and a 50-foot interval between vehicles has been mandated, as well. The Suspension Bridge was immediately shuttered after a motorcoach drove over it in June 2019, but it reopened two months later only to be closed again in September 2019.
Because there is a chance the span may never welcome cars and trucks again in the future, it has many Wheeling residents wondering about the future integrity of the Suspension Bridge. Some believe, in fact, maintenance funding would no longer be allocated for upkeep.
So, what is true and what is not? DOH District 6 Engineer Tony Clark offered an answer.
Question: All maintenance funding for the Wheeling Suspension Bridge would disappear if the span is closed to vehicular traffic … true or false?
Answer: “False.”
“It is the intent of the state to preserve the Suspension Bridge as the landmark and icon that it is,” he explained. “It’s not a case that if the bridge is closed to vehicular traffic, the maintenance funding goes away. That can’t happen and won’t happen.
“There is no way the Suspension Bridge will be left to sit and rot and fall in on its own,” the district engineer insisted. “It is definitely a unique structure in the state of West Virginia, and we want to keep it into perpetuity. I grew up in Wetzel County, and I have known about the Suspension Bridge my whole life because I’ve not been a stranger to Wheeling.”
The Original Gateway
When the Wheeling Suspension Bridge opened in 1849, it became the first to span the Ohio River and was considered the premier suspended platform in the world. For the first time, those traveling west to settle were able to cross over the Ohio River instead of waiting for low water flow levels.
The population of the city of Wheeling at the time of the opening was about 14,500, but by the 1940s it had ballooned to 61,000 residents. Although the population of the municipality has declined by more than 30,000, many residents have utilized it for access to Wheeling Island and East Ohio.
Could that convenience return?
“I really do not have a clue. That’s a decision that will be made after the contractor gets it opened up to see how bad the damage is,” Clark said. “I doubt the weight limit could be lowered because most vehicles made today are over the limit and shouldn’t be crossing it anyway. If it came down to lowering the weight limit, it likely would just remain closed to vehicular traffic.
“I don’t know if the weight limit could be raised either,” he said. “The primary goal for the state of West Virginia is to preserve this bridge. If it comes down to the preservation, then closing it is something they would have to do, but that decision will be made in Charleston after it is fully examined during this upcoming project.”
Clark has explained inspectors have notified him it appears the biggest issue at this time involves the northeast anchor that is hidden by Main Street near the Bridge Tavern. Several other cables, he confirmed, have been ordered beneath the selected contractor, Advantage Steel and Construction of Saxonburg, Pa., in preparation for the spring construction season.
Clark is aware the majority of Wheeling Island residents have expressed hope for vehicular traffic to be permitted again once the two-year rehabilitation and beautification project is completed in 2024.
“I know they want it reopened, and I know the project on Interstate 70 hasn’t made it easy for the people who live on Wheeling Island, especially now that the exit ramp for downtown has been closed,” Clark said. “I’m amazed we haven’t received more complaints than we have about that because I feel for them; I really do,
“Unfortunately, though, that is the situation we’re in right now, but we are getting closer and closer to the I-70 project being completed,” he said. “At this point, the I-70 project has about a year left, and the work from here will not be as intensive as it has been. Swank has done a tremendous job with it and everything has been on schedule or early, so I have no complaints at all about the project.”
