Fort Henry Bridge - History

History

Contracts to build the Fort Henry Bridge were let to the American Bridge Company, a subsidiary of U.S. Steel, and Dravo Corporation of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Costing $6.8 million, $1.8 million over budget, and taking four years to complete, the Fort Henry Bridge opened to traffic on September 8, 1955 after a ribbon-cutting ceremony with then-governor William C. Marland in front of a crowd of 55,000 to 60,000 people. The bridge earned an Honorable Mention in 1955 from the National Steel Bridge Alliance, a part of the American Institute of Steel Construction, which recognizes the best steel bridges of the year. At the time of construction, the bridge was only the second tied-arch bridge across the Ohio River.

The bridge was originally named the Ninth Street Bridge, and was designed to relieve traffic on the National Road's Wheeling Suspension Bridge. The roadway as originally opened carried four lanes with a 4 ft (1.2 m) median between each direction. During the first years of the bridge it carried US 40 and US 250 from Wheeling Island over the Ohio River main channel. In 1957 plans to add an Interstate Highway designation to the bridge were formed, with the Interstate 70 designation added by 1966. The bridge underwent a renovation in 1990 which included replacement of its bridge deck.

The bridge, along with the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge and the Wheeling Suspension bridge were all closed in January 2005, stopping any traffic from Ohio or Wheeling Island from entering mainland West Virginia for a few days due to barges breaking loose during heavy flooding along the Ohio River.