Part of I-64 bridge history comes down

KANAWHA COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) – Part of Interstate 64 history in West Virginia came down Wednesday, as the main span of the old Nitro-St. Albans Bridge was lowered onto a barge.

According to a release from Gov. Jim Justice’s office, the section of the Donald M. Legg Memorial Bridge, which is 250 feet long and weighs nearly 1.7 million pounds, will be transferred for recycling.

The bridge has been open since 1962, serving drivers for six decades.

“The section was lowered using strand jacks, the same method used to raise the Nitro WWI Memorial Bridge main span,” the release said.

“Lowering this center section to get it to the side allows them to reach the other sections with the cranes they have to cut it into pieces and demo it,” said Carl Davis, the project supervisor for consultant Mead & Hunt, in the release. “By demoing the bridge, it allows us to also demo part of the existing piers to rebuild and build the new eastbound structure back in the place it is now.”

The release went on to say, “The new Nitro WWI Memorial Bridge, which opened on Friday, Oct. 28, 2022, currently carries both eastbound and westbound traffic. Following the dismantling of the old Donald M Legg Memorial bridge, a new one will be constructed in its place to carry eastbound traffic.

The bridge work is part of an overall project to widen I-64 and remove a bottleneck area where an increase in traffic volumes during the years has led to delays.

It is part of Governor Justice’s Road to Prosperity program — with the 3.9-mile long project including seven bridges in that section of I-64.

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