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Delays expected as prep work begins on I-70 near state line

WHEELING — Motorists traveling Interstate 70 in Ohio County near the Pennsylvania State Line can expect delays in the coming weeks once again as the West Virginia Department of Highways has started making preparations on the highway for more longwall mining in the area.

The work is being done near the West Virginia Welcome Center as the Tunnel Ridge Coal Company is scheduled to move longwall mining operations beneath the highway in a couple of weeks, according to DOH officials.

DOH Area Engineer Mike Witherow confirmed work currently being done by local contractor Kelly Paving is in preparation of longwall mining operations expected to move into that area in early September. Over the past week, traffic has backed up on both east and westbound sides of the highway as traffic has been narrowed to one lane as construction crews create several “relief joints” on the interstate in that area.

Earlier this year, motorists encountered delays for more than two months near the same location on both sides of the state line as the coal company performed longwall mining operations hundreds of feet below the highway, which prompted subsidence issues that required repairs to cracks and compression bumps, along with around the clock monitoring by DOH officials.

Witherow said the DOH met with coal company officials recently to discuss plans to monitor the surface once again as the next coal panel is expected to run beneath the highway sometime around Labor Day.

“We are doing some preliminary work out there now — putting in some relief joints to mitigate any damage that may happen as a result of the coal mine,” Witherow said. “We met with them (coal officials) last week, and they gave us an update. … And so we’re getting ahead of them to do a little bit of the prep work.”

He said there will be a period of time they will be moving the orange barrels off to the side of the highway prior to the coal panel coming through that area.

“Then whenever the coal mine gets to the area underneath our interstate … then we will go into the monitoring mode and just be out there full time,” he added.

For safety reasons, the speed limit has been lowered from 70 mph down to 55 mph throughout the work zone. According to Witherow, DOH officials may lower the speed limit to 45 mph throughout the “monitoring” phase of the project.

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