Wellsburg Bridge Floated Into Place on the Ohio River
Wellsburg Bridge Disktron Bearing in R.J. Watson Test Frame
Construction continues on West Virginia’s first design build project, the Wellsburg Bridge, which connects West Virginia’s panhandle to Eastern Ohio over the Ohio River. The $131 million dollar project began in April 2018 and is scheduled to be open in June, 2021.
4 RJ Watson Disktron bearings were installed and are designed to handle a vertical service load of 5,369 kips, a horizontal load between 7% – 10% of the vertical load, a service rotation of ± 0.015 radians, ± 0.125” of longitudinal displacement, and ± 3.0” of transverse displacement.
The Division of Highways livestreamed the entire process which allowed for viewers to see this engineering marvel come to life. To view the video from the West Virginia DOT, click here!
