KINGWOOD — The Rockville-Mount Nebo Bridge could be repaired “sometime” in the future.
“To my knowledge, we are going to try to get the funds to repair it,” Mike Cronin, District 4 acting engineer, for the West Virginia Department of Transportation (WVDOT), said. “Currently, for safety purposes it must be closed.”
In an earlier email Jennifer Jo Dooley, WVDOT Information Corps Manager, said WVDOT is evaluating the repairs needed to ensure its safety and will determine if the work is feasible after the study is complete.
She said the bridge is “used infrequently by vehicles but evidently it is used by all-terrain vehicles.”
Owen Mulkeen, associate director of Friends of the Cheat, has said removal of the bridge would make an island of the organization’s property. Friends of the Cheat owns a recreational access point near the bridge.
Mulkeen said it would also cause massive detours for boaters on the upper Big Sandy.
Although its condition is considered poor the Rockville-Mount Nebo Bridge is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.
The bridge is listed by bridgehunter.com, which tracks historic and notable bridges in the U.S.
The bridge was built in 1893 by King Bridge Co., of Cleveland, Ohio.
It’s largest span is 84 feet, its total length is 149 feet and its deck width is 11.4 feet.
Kitty Henderson, executive director of the Historic Bridge Foundation in Austin, Texas, said because the bridge is eligible for national register status, the state must go through a Section 106 before any decision about its future can be made.
She said Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (NHPA) allows individuals and groups to sign up and participate in all discussions about the bridge.
It also requires the state to look at alternatives to destruction.
Henderson said there are various ways for this to be done. She said the bridge can be made as part of a one-way pair or it can be left as a monument.
The state can also market the bridge to an individual or organization. If marketed, it can be moved to another location such as a park or left at its current location.
A list of inspections from 1991 to 2018 can be found at http://bridgereports.com/1616360
The 2018 report lists the bridge’s condition as poor.
The Dominion Post sent a Freedom of Information request to the WVDOT asking for a copy of the most recent inspection for the bridge and received a response from Brandi Edens, paralegal for DOH legal division.
She said the requested documents were being collected and reviewed, and then a response would be made to the newspaper. She anticipates that to happen within six weeks.
TWEET@DominionPostWV
