All lanes reopen on Glade Creek Bridge

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CHARLESTON, WV - All four lanes have reopened on the Glade Creek Bridge on Interstate 64 near Beckley.

The outer two lanes were closed on Monday, July 1, 2024, after a routine bridge inspection discovered minor cracks in four bridge girder connections under the bridge, according to West Virginia Division of Highways (WVDOH) State Bridge Engineer Tracy Brown, P.E.

Brown said WVDOH bridge crews were able to repair the cracks. They first drilled a hole at the top of each crack to keep it from spreading, welded the crack shut, then welded a steel reinforcing plate on top of the repair.

The outer two lanes reopened to traffic at 1 p.m. Friday, August 9, 2024. Periodic lane closures will still be required for further maintenance work on the bridge.

The bridge, also known as the Phil G. McDonald Memorial Bridge, crosses Glade Creek on I-64 between exits 129 and 133. The 2,179-foot bridge rises 700 feet above Glade Creek and is the highest bridge in the United States interstate highway system, and the sixth tallest bridge in the country.

The bridge is named after West Virginia native Phill G. McDonald, a United States Army soldier who was awarded the Medal of Honor for sacrificing his own life to save his platoon near Kon Tum, Vietnam, on June 7, 1967. The completion of the bridge was the final part of I-64 to be built in West Virginia with Governor Arch Moore opening the bridge at a ribbon-cutting ceremony on July 15, 1988.

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