CHARLESTON, WV — The Interstate 70 Bridges Project, with design led by global design firm Stantec, has kicked off construction in West Virginia and Ohio, on behalf of the West Virginia Division of Highways (WVDOH). As part of the $214-million project to enhance and preserve the life of structures along this corridor, 24 bridges will be rehabilitated and two bridges will be fully replaced. Repairs include a combination of new decks or new deck overlays, concrete substructure repairs, steel repairs to areas with section loss or cracking, elimination of deck joints, and new coating systems.

“Rehabilitation of the bridges along the I-70 corridor from West Virginia to Ohio is essential to ensuring these heavily trafficked roadways remain safe for motorists and structurally viable for years to come,” said Michael Perry, Principal at Stantec. “This project has been an exciting collaboration between multiple stakeholders, including the West Virginia Division of Highways, which recently awarded Stantec first place for the project in the Large Bridge Category of its annual Engineering Excellence Awards.”

As lead designer and quality assurance manager for the design team, Stantec was supported by HDR Engineering, TRC Engineers, and Mead & Hunt in the on-time delivery of over 2,800 plan sheets in approximately seven months. Stantec is now providing owner’s representative and construction oversight for the WVDOH. Stantec has more than 180 practitioners from 33 offices collaborating on the project, led out of Charleston, West Virginia. Construction began in 2019 and is expected to be completed by 2022.

Due to existing traffic volume and limited roadway width, careful planning and coordination is critical to minimize disruption to motorists. For example, the steel superstructure design of the existing Fulton Bridge in West Virginia requires I-70 to be completely detoured in one direction while the respective eastbound and westbound bridges are replaced. Coordination with stakeholders including the WVDOH, Ohio Department of Transportation, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, emergency services, the Wheeling Hospital, and the Wheeling Island Hotel Casino Racetrack is critical to success for the project.

An expert in infrastructure upgrades throughout West Virginia, Stantec is leading design for the widening of a congested 2.5-mile stretch of the I-64 corridor in Cabell County, and is also providing design to reconfigure and improve the Hal Greer Boulevard in Huntington, utilizing a complete streets concept to establish a main connector from I-64 to downtown Huntington. Additionally, Stantec is designing improvements to Goff Mountain Road in Cross Lanes, which has been plagued by congestion and traffic issues.

Stantec has also led design for the $1.6-billion Ohio River Bridges project that added two new crossings over the Ohio River in Louisville, Kentucky, and the $815-million expansion of State Highway 288 Toll Lanes in Houston, Texas.