Work Continuing On New W.Va. Bridge On I-64

Work continues this week on a new Interstate 64 bridge in West Virginia, the state Department of Transportation said.

Contractors will continue hoisting bridge girders into place over West Virginia Highway 817. They began the work last Monday, hoisting one girder from a barge in the Kanawha River and another from the western shore and bolting them together in midair, the department said.

The girders will be lifted above Highway 817, and traffic will be disrupted at times during the week.

The new Donald M. Legg Memorial Bridge carries I-64 over the Kanawha River between the Nitro and St. Albans interchanges.

The $244.4 million project will widen 3.8 miles of the road to six lanes. Between Nitro and St. Albans, the road will be widened to eight lanes.

The plan is to build a second bridge north of the existing bridge and eventually move westbound traffic to the new bridge and use the existing bridge for eastbound traffic, the department said.

The new bridge is expected to be completed in the summer of 2024.