HEAVY LIFTING — An old span was removed from the train bridge over Route 7 in Mingo Junction as part of Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway’s replacement project. -- Contributed

MINGO JUNCTION — Crews continue to work on the $3.5 million train bridge replacement project in Mingo Junction, with the next phase of traffic control measures being enacted.

Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway is overseeing the project — a near-total replacement of the superstructure that crosses over state Route 7, just west of JSW Steel. Work on the bridge commenced Oct. 14 and is slated for completion Dec. 31.

Crews are utilizing a traffic control plan approved by the Ohio Department of Transportation. Since work began, one lane of traffic has been maintained on Route 7 in each direction with an 11-foot width restriction. Now, officials say the project is transitioning into its next traffic control phase.

Nick Strub, project engineer for W&LE, said Friday that the project was concluding its second phase of traffic control, which saw both lanes of Route 7 directed to its southbound side. A portion of South Commercial Street, as well as its on-ramp and exit, were closed until Friday to allow use of a crane on the bridge’s eastern side.

Both cross girders and four out of the six spans have now been replaced, Strub said, meaning it’s time to shift positions.

Beginning Monday, crews were expected to begin transitioning the crossover, directing both lanes of Route 7 to its northbound side instead. This would allow work to be done on the bridge’s western side, primarily replacing the final two spans. Strub said that configuration — considered phase three — is expected to be in place until Nov. 23.

Adam Daley, railroad superintendent for main contractor The L.C. Whitford Co. Inc., said the southbound Commercial Street exit will be closed during that period. Motorists are recommended to continue down Route 7 and exit at state Route 151.

Phase four will see Route 7 return to one lane per side, going both directions. Strub said the southbound on-ramp from Commercial Street will be closed to make room for work on the bridge’s western abutment. This configuration will continue until the first week of December, Strub said.

The final step, phase five, will see work on the bridge’s eastern abutment adjacent to Commercial Street. As for Route 7, Strub said crews will begin repairing the center median, with the goal of reopening all four lanes by the second week of December.

Beaver Excavating Co. and Wright Traffic Control are handling traffic aspects of the project, Strub said.

The project has also necessitated closure of the northbound Murdock Avenue on-ramp and exit, as well as the southbound Murdock Avenue on-ramp. Strub said ODOT requested this because the ramps are too short and do not provide enough transition room with only one lane active. These ramps are expected to be closed until the last week of November at the earliest, Strub said.

With work on the bridge 60 percent complete as of Friday, Strub reflected on why the project needed done in the first place.

Originally built in 1903, the train bridge in question had been identified over the years by W&LE as needing structural steel repairs, Strub said. W&LE — one of the largest railroads in the U.S. and the largest Ohio-based railroad — created a plan to repair the bridge’s existing steel in 2021.

Strub said W&LE approached the state of Ohio about potentially collaborating to share costs, considering the bridge crosses over Route 7. The state declined at the time, so W&LE planned to finance the project itself. Following the standard bidding process, W&LE planned work to begin near the end of 2023.

That was the plan, Strub said, until the East Palestine train derailment occurred Feb. 3, 2023. Shortly after, ODOT’s inspectors took a look at the Mingo Junction bridge — among others — and subsequently expressed concerns.

W&LE engaged with the Ohio Governor’s Office, ODOT and the Ohio Rail Development Commission regarding the concerns, which Strub said W&LE had already identified and planned to remedy. However, the state wanted work expedited and offered $250,000 toward the project for W&LE to take care of the “emergent” work right away.

With those grant funds, crews repaired the supporting columns from about two feet below the ground line up to the cross girders’ base in the spring of 2023. Work on the steel spans was still set for fall 2023, where it had to stay due to the winning bidders’ schedule. In the meantime, Strub said, W&LE entered a cost-benefit analysis and determined that, if the state could put up enough funds, then the railroad could afford to replace the old components rather than simply repair them.

“It would’ve been a sufficient repair, just not a complete, longer-lasting repair,” Strub said.

W&LE approached the ORDC again and requested an increase in funding, which it granted, bringing the new total of funds to $1 million — a $750,000 increase. With more than a quarter of total costs now covered by the state, W&LE placed an order for new bridge spans. While those were being fabricated, W&LE got its traffic control plan approved by ODOT and began its first cross-girder replacement in mid-October.

“It will be very nearly a whole new superstructure from the ground up by the time this work is completed,” Strub said.

Not only is the new bridge good for the railroad, it’s also beneficial for Route 7 drivers, who won’t have to endure traffic impacts by the bridge for another 75 years, Strub said. He added that W&LE has a “great working relationship” with the ORDC, and the two’s public-private partnership has yielded great benefits.

Regarding the $1 million for this project, Strub said, “It’s a great example of (the ORDC’s) willingness to contribute to essentially the best permanent repair, the safest repair, the repair that’s going to last the longest.”

Asked about the bridge project’s impact on traffic in the village, ODOT District 11 Communications Officer Lauren Borrell said, “The traffic maintenance provisions outlined in Wheeling & Lake Erie’s approved plans are designed to adapt to the various construction phases associated with ODOT’s projects near this location. Safety is our No. 1 priority.”

“ODOT conducted a comprehensive review of the traffic maintenance plans associated with the three concurrent projects to ensure safe and efficient traffic flow through this section of State Route 7,” Borell said, referencing ODOT projects to the north on Route 7: A hillside remediation effort and the nearly completed replacement of spans over Logan Avenue.