WORK CONTINUES — Area motorists will have to put up with lane closures for a little while longer on the Veterans Memorial Bridge while officials repair a deteriorated cable. -- Warren Scott

STEUBENVILLE — Motorists will have to put up with some construction barrels on the Veterans Memorial Bridge for a little longer.

West Virginia Division of Highways officials said Thursday the actual renovation project concluded in September, but a hands-on inspection done by their new consultant uncovered a deteriorated cable in the eastbound lane that must be replaced.

Regional Construction Engineer Mike Witherow and state Bridge Engineer Tracy Brown said the inspection was initiated as the renovation project was finishing up.

“This was the first inspection with a new consultant (with) a six-year inspection contract,” they said. “This first inspection is typically the longest because the inspectors are new to the structure and more data is collected in a hands-on routine inspection.”

The hands-on bridge inspection “requires that every element of a particular bridge be accessed and inspected within arm’s reach,” they said. “In the case of this particular bridge, each individual cable must be inspected for its entire length, which requires additional time.”

The contractor for the renovation project had implemented the right lane closure several months ago so crews could complete concrete repairs over the railroad on the Ohio side and finish renovating the manlift in the tower.

The deteriorated cable that was discovered is adjacent to the eastbound right lane. The state operations division and state bridge engineers are coordinating the design effort to replace the cable, and they said the right lane eastbound “will remain closed until the cable can be repaired or replaced.”

The U.S. Route 22 mainline bridge project just to the east of the bridge is ongoing with active lane closures in both directions. There’s no word on when that work will be done.

The Veterans Memorial Bridge renovation project began in April 2022 and was completed in June.

State officials said the contract schedule was extended three times: The first (75 calendar days) to allow time for additional patching concrete structure repairs and additional cable repairs found to be necessary after the work began; the second (82 calendar days) caused by delays in material procurement for the renovation work to the manlift in the tower; and the third (212 calendar days) due to a delay in executing the necessary agreement with Norfolk Southern to perform concrete repairs over its lines on the Ohio side.