Crossing the Ohio River back channel between Wheeling and Bridgeport, this bridge features a lot of 19th Century character
Built in 1893, the Bridgeport Bridge, crossing a back channel of the Ohio River between Wheeling, West Virginia and Bridgeport, Ohio represented one type of bridges which could be ordered from catalogues at the end of the nineteenth century. Except for the replacement of the partially wooden roadway surface with steel grating in 1950, the bridge remained basically unchanged.
Because the floor beams had become structurally unsound, a new, self-supporting, load-bearing deck structure was installed inside the trusses of the Bridgeport Bridge in 1987. Designed as a temporary means of carrying traffic until a new vehicular bridge was built, the deck installed was prefabricated in England and is a modern-day successor to the Bailey bridge type. [1]
The West Virginia Division of Highways received a request from the U.S. Coast Guard to bring the bridge down as it was a safety hazard and pieces had fallen into the river. Many of the unique features of the bridge, such as the railings, signage, the finials on top, and plaques were removed prior to demolition. The bridge demolition was expected to take 60 days and cost $750,000.00, which was considerably less than a $1.2 million estimate for demolition costs that had been given in 2000.
Explosive demolition of the bridge occurred on Monday, September 12, 2011. Explosive charges were used to drop the bridge into the river, after which cranes began retrieving the steel parts for scrapping. Complete removal of bridge and piers was scheduled to be completed by October 31, 2011. [2]
[1] HAER survey number WV-25 The Historic American Engineering Record is a project of the National Park Service. Drawings delineated by Robert Meden and Hathleen Hoeft, 1974
[2] Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridgeport_Bridge_(Ohio_River) accessed 02/05/2021