31st Street Bridge reopens following inspection, minor repairs

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The 31^stStreet Bridge, connecting Huntington, West Virginia with Proctorville, Ohio, is reopen following a bridge inspection and minor repairs. As a result of the repairs, the West Virginia Division of Highways (WVDOH) will lift a 20-ton weight restriction from the span and return it to its full capacity.

One lane of the bridge was closed on Monday, November 4, 2024, to allow contractors to conduct an in-depth inspection of the bridge that involved opening and inspecting some of the cables that support the 1,500-foot bridge. Built in 1983, the deck of the bridge is held up by 62 cables, each made up of multiple strands of steel wire.

Every bridge in the state is inspected at least every two years, and sometimes more. In addition, specialized inspections are carried out when warranted to ensure the continued safety of the state's approximately 7,200 bridges.

"We can't ignore our bridges and pretend everything is fine," said Tracy Brown, P.E., WVDOH State Bridge Engineer. "We need to know the truth. We're not going to roll the dice and put our citizens on a bridge we know nothing about. We've got to KNOW it's safe."

The WVDOH placed a 20-ton weight restriction on the 31^stStreet Bridge in 2018 after noticing potential problems with some of the support cables. Engineers did several rounds of non-invasive testing on the bridge, including magnetic and acoustic testing, before deciding to bring in a consultant to look inside the cables themselves.

"This is what we do," Brown said. "Our bridge inspection program worked. We saw something, we weren't sure what it was, so we did further testing and investigation to find out."

Most of the cables looked at during the most recent cable inspection were fine. Inspectors found some minor surface rust on one section of cable, and minor deterioration on 23 of 181 individual strands of wire in another cable. Both sections of cable were cleaned, treated against further deterioration, and re-encased.

Repairs were sufficient that WVDOH engineers were confident in removing the 20-ton weight restriction on the bridge and returning it to full service.

"Our bridge inspection program works," Brown said. "We spend $15 million a year on bridge safety inspections, and it's worth every penny."

The federal National Bridge Inspection Standards, which mandate when and how bridges should be inspected, are based on the December 15, 1967 collapse of the Silver Bridge. Sunday, December 15, 2024 will mark the 57 year anniversary of that tragedy. To ensure such a tragedy never occurs again, bridge safety inspectors work year round in all weather, climbing high and low and even inspecting bridges underwater. Coupled with WVDOH's 10-year bridge management plan for maintenance and replacement of bridges in the system, WVDOH is working to catch up years of underfunding to meet the goal of being a nationwide leader for safe bridges.