Nearly four months after the main bridge connecting East Liverpool, Ohio, and Chester, West Virginia was forced to close, repairs have now been completed.

The Jennings Randolph Bridge was closed on Monday, December 11, 2023, after a federally mandated inspection discovered cracking in two welds on the steel bridge structure. The cracks were not visible to the naked eye. The WVDOH decided to close the Route 30 bridge while repairs were completed.

 “There’s some painting that needs to be done, but the structural repairs are finished,” said Steve Johnson, P.E. bridge inspection manager for the West Virginia Division of Highways (WVDOH).

The Jennings Randolph Bridge was built in 1977 using a type of steel that was later discovered to be susceptible to developing cracks in the welds joining the beams.

Recently, the federal government required specialized testing on all bridges made with such steel.

It was during one of those tests that a few cracks were identified in welds on the Jennings Randolph Bridge. Because the cracks could cause safety issues in the future, the WVDOH shut the bridge down to repair the cracks.

A bridge inspection consultant identified 18 additional internal defects on welds on the bridge that needed to be repaired before reopening the bridge. All those defects on the bridge were repaired, according to the Division of Highways.

 Other, minor repairs that could be done with traffic on the bridge were completed on Friday, March 29, 2024, two days ahead of schedule.