CHARLESTON, W.Va. — All lanes of Interstate 64 running through Charleston were reopened Monday night after crews repaired an expansion joint on the Eugene A. Carter Memorial Bridge that came loose during the Monday morning rush hour.
Tire repair shops in the Charleston area saw their workload increase due to the incident Monday morning. More than 15 motorists experienced tire blowouts as they were approaching the bridge on Interstate 64 eastbound during the morning commute.
“That joint and that bridge is moving and sometimes it comes loose,” said Department of Highways Spokesperson Carrie Bly. “When that expansion join comes loose it has what essentially looks like metal spikes on it.”
Traffic on all three lanes was immediately shutdown which caused a massive backup for morning commuters trying to enter Charleston from the west. Bly said cut tires were bad, but it could easily have been worse since the joints have been known to actually pierce the floor boards of vehicles. She said fortunately cars were not colliding in an attempt to avoid the piece of metal in the roadway.
“We had all of these vehicles all at once having flat tires,” she said. “When this was happening we immediately shut the interstate down.”
Those who incurred damage from the incident are encouraged to file with the West Virginia Court of Claims for reimbursement. Bly said the Court of Claims is the arm of the Department of Highways to cover any expenses blamed on road conditions, although she urged patience since the reimbursement process often takes a considerable amount of time.
Ironically the approach to the bridge on the other side of the river was repaired last year during a major bridge refurbishing project. However, the one which became dislodged Monday has been a problem for a long time.
“When contractors got in to do the work, they found a steel plate which wasn’t in the original design plan, so those joints had to be modified,” Bly said. “With that modification that’s believed to be causing some of the issues and has made it a problem child.”
Adding to the difficulty are the constant movement of the massive bridge, the high level of traffic it carries, and radical weather changes. All have contributed to the problems according to Bly, but she says a lack of maintenance or low funding for the maintenance are not the issue.
“These things happen and it’s unfortunate. I know in the public’s mind that’s not a good answer, but this isn’t an issue of we knew this was a problem and we were just sitting around,” Bly explained. “It’s just coming up with the right fix to keep this from happening. It’s just as frustrating to us.”