Vehicular travel is officially a thing of the past on the world’s oldest major long-span suspension bridge.
The West Virginia Division of Highways (WVDOH) announced that the Wheeling Suspension Bridge will be converted to pedestrian-only access in a Wednesday press release.
The historic bridge, which spans 1,010 feet across the Ohio River in Wheeling, W.V., has been closed to vehicular traffic since 2019 after a tour bus disregarding posted weight limits caused permanent structural damage. Despite measures taken to deter overweight vehicles, WVDOH reported in 2019 that drivers continued to flout restrictions and cross the bridge.
First constructed for horse-and-buggy travel, the suspension bridge opened to traffic in 1849 after two years of construction, according to the WVDOH press release.
In 2021, the highway division announced that a project to repair and rehabilitate the bridge had been awarded, with plans at the time to restore vehicular access. The nearly $18 million contract was issued to Advantage Steel and Construction LLC to repair the bridge’s superstructure and substructure, replace damaged suspension cables, renovate lighting and clean and paint the span.
According to The Intelligencer, most rehabilitation work was completed by November 2024, though WVDOH had not yet decided whether vehicles would return.
State officials previously said data gathered during construction would inform that decision. Transportation leaders were expected to review load-related data at the end of 2024, The Intelligencer reported, alongside other consideration including long-term maintenance needs and costs.
In Wednesday’s press release, WVDOH said engineers are now securing a study to assess preservation methods that comply with National Historic Landmark Standards. The Wheeling Suspension Bridge has been designated a National Historic Landmark since 1975 for its antebellum engineering significance.
The study will evaluate options to reduce the weight of the existing bridge deck, design repairs to original suspension cables, complete masonry repairs to the towers, clean cut stone and replace timber stiffening trusses, the press release states.
WVDOH will work with the public, state and federal resource agencies and other stakeholders to ensure that both engineering and preservation goals are met once an engineering consultant is contracted.
Suspension bridges are defined by their thick steel cables that effectively hang the roadway from towers anchored at both ends. Vertical cables connect the main span to the deck, allowing the structure to accommodate heavy loads while adapting to wind, traffic and temperature changes — a design long considered ideal for crossing waterways and deep valleys.
Sources: WVDOH, The Intelligencer
