The West Virginia Division of Highways today released an artist’s rendering of what the new blue and gold paint scheme will look like on the Charles Chuck Yeager Bridge on the West Virginia Turnpike. The twin spans cross the Kanawha River in Kanawha City.
The color rendering was prepared by the West Virginia Department of Transportation Planning Division’s Visualization Unit and shows how the bridges will look once painting is completed in 2023.
In June 2021, Southern Road and Bridge LLC was awarded a contract for $16,267,273.80 to completely repaint both northbound and southbound spans of the bridge. The winning bid was 11 percent lower than the engineer’s estimate for the project.
In honor of Yeager, a Hamlin native who was the first man to officially break the sound barrier, the decision was made to paint the bridges in blue and gold.
Plans call for cleaning and painting the steelwork below the bridges this year. Beginning in January 2023, contractors plan to tackle the main bridge trusses above the bridge decks. Plans call for painting both bridges at the same time.
Painting is expected to be complete in June 2023.