On Tuesday, the West Virginia Department of Transportation (WVDOT) announced it had won three of the 10 regional awards in the 2024 America’s Transportation Awards.
The 13 state competition held its award ceremony at the Southeastern Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (SASHTO) Annual Meeting on Tuesday, August 20, in Arkansas. The competition, sponsored by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), AAA, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, highlighted the projects delivered by state DOTs each year.
The WVDOT won the Quality of Life/Community Development, Medium Project award for the replacement the Grant Street Bridge in Bluefield. Started in December 2023, the Grant Street Bridge, reconnected the city’s north end and east side for the first time since the structure’s closure in 2019. The new $10.5 million bridge is 330 feet long and features improvements to safety and traffic flow.
“This is another example of us pulling the rope together to get a meaningful project done,” WV Gov. Jim Justice said. “There were a few hurdles along the way, but we didn’t let them stop us from getting this project across the finish line, and I’m proud to see us cutting the ribbon today. Bridges are more than just crossings from one side to the other. They act as connections between people, communities, and opportunities. This new bridge symbolizes our collective commitment to develop connections and economic prosperity for the City of Bluefield.”
The department also won the award for Best Use of Technology & Innovation, Large Project, for the Wellsburg Bridge project, which entailed floating the main span of the massive bridge downstream on barges and lifting it into place.
And finally, the department won the award for Safety, Medium Project for the US 340 Rock Fall Mitigation project that installed safety barriers and removed debris above the US 340 near Harpers Ferry.