The Market Street Bridge, connecting WV 2 and Steubenville, Ohio, will be closed to vehicle and pedestrian traffic starting today, December 21, 2023.
The West Virginia Department of Transportation (WVDOT) has been monitoring the bridge on a three-month inspection cycle, monitoring the cable anchorage system. With the previous three-month inspection, the weight limit was lowered from five to three tons. Out of an abundance of caution following an inspection on Wednesday, December 20, 2023, the decision was made to close the bridge.
The Market Street Bridge is a three-span steel suspension bridge built in 1905. The longest span is 680 feet, and the total length of the bridge is just under 1,800 feet. The main spans of the bridge are supported by steel cables, as was common with bridges built at the time.
The Market Street Bridge is of a design much older than the Jennings Randolph Memorial Bridge in Chester, West Virginia, a Pratt Truss bridge currently closed as engineers make repairs to the steel bridge structure.
WVDOT’s bridge safety inspection program exceeds federal requirements. All bridges that remain open and in use in the state of West Virginia are safe and are inspected on a two-year cycle, or more frequently if needed.
Detour routes are available using US 22, the Veterans Memorial Bridge, to the north, or County Route 2/23, the Wellsburg Bridge, to the south.
The WVDOT will update the public on the status of the bridge.