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Companies bid on I-70 bridges project

WHEELING – The massive bridges rehabilitation project on Interstate 70 through Ohio County will cost slightly more than anticipated.

Bids opened Tuesday at the Department of Transportation headquarters in Charleston revealed the Swank Construction Company, of Kensington, Pennsylvania, submitted the lowest bid at $214,651,968.72.

Other bids came from the Trumbull Corp., Pittsburgh, $215,376,254.31; Brayman Construction Corporation, Saxonburg, Pennsylvania, $218,373,550.11; Joseph B. Fay Company, Tarentum, Pennsylvania, $234,931,000, and Walsh Construction Company, Chicago, Illinois, $237,704,300.

“Bids were opened on the I-70 bridges project Tuesday morning, and we have an apparent low bidder,” West Virginia Department of Transportation spokesman Brent Walker said. “DOH officials will now review the bids and look to make an award determination soon.”

Plans are to replace the east and westbound I-70 Fulton Bridges, located on the east side of the Wheeling Tunnel. The remaining 24 bridges between the Ohio and Pennsylvania borders will be rehabilitated over a three-year period.

State Sen. William Ihlenfeld, D-Ohio, said original estimates for the work were in the range of $210 million.

“The bids came in a little higher than that,” he said. “That is a good sign. An awards committee will review the bids to make sure all the specifications are met. Because of the importance of the project, the committee will spend a lot of time over the next couple of days looking them over before forwarding a recommendation to the governor.”

He said he is comfortable that one of the bids will be approved by Gov. Jim Justice.

West Virginia Delegate Erikka Storch, R-Ohio, also said the bids will undergo extensive review before one is awarded.

“Also, I hope the community braces for the level of construction associated with this project,” she said. “Hopefully, they will maintain patience when navigating through the work zones.”

She said she urges the public to continue to support local restaurants and businesses affected by the work.

“The WVDOT will take a close look at the bids and make sure everything is covered before they make an award,” she said. “We need to get started on this project. We have been talking about it for 10 years.”

In July, WVDOT District Six Construction Engineer Joe Juszczak said a combination of rusting steel and eroding concrete on the Fulton Bridges have earmarked the two spans for full replacement.

Replacement of the structures will play a key role in deciding when those sections of the interstate will be fully closed throughout the project, according to Juszczak.

“It’s the critical path of the project because that is the part of the project where we allow I-70 to be a full closure (on one side at a time) because the structures have to be replaced,” he said. “Those are the only two bridges out of the 26 that are a complete replacement.”

He said the timeline for those closures have already been set in the contract plans as a result of the local stakeholder meetings held earlier this year.

Juszczak predicted some preliminary work starting as soon as this fall. Some work may be done under the Fulton Bridges without disrupting traffic flow during the Winter Festival of Lights.

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