NITRO, W.Va. — Contractors are scheduled to begin lowering the main span of the Donald M. Legg Memorial Bridge on I-64 at Nitro to a barge on the Kanawha River Wednesday morning.
The project is expected to take several hours, Nitro spokesman Joe Stevens told city council Tuesday night.
“It will take six hours,” Stevens said. “The good news is all of the metal they are pulling off the old bridge, they are recycling it, and making into rebar for the new bridge.”
The bridge first opened to traffic in 1962.
According to the state Division of Highways, “the section being lowered is 250′ and weighs approximately 1,720,000 pounds. The section will be lowered using strand jacks, the same method used to raise the Nitro WWI Memorial Bridge main span.”
Both eastbound and westbound traffic are currently using the new bridge. Once the old bridge is removed, crews will build a second bridge that will eventually carry eastbound traffic across the Kanawha River.
The work is part of an interstate widening project from Nitro to Scott Depot.