London West Road Bridge construction stretch drive after 18-month closure
By David Jacobs
Construction stretch drive for the new London West Road Bridge after 18-month closure
Reconstruction of the London West Road Bridge, a key east-west route in north Shelby, is nearing completion a year-and-a-half after the old bridge was closed due to concerns over unsafe conditions.
"They're getting really close," Richland County Engineer Adam Gove said of construction crews at the site. "They have some roadway and the paving to do yet."
"We're hoping if the weather will kind of shape up here a little bit that maybe by next week or the first week in December, we're back open," he added.
Gove expressed optimism that the bridge could reopen by early December, barring weather delays.
The bridge, estimated as originally constructed in the 1960s, underwent extensive rebuilding to replace deteriorating steel beams and a worn surface.
The new bridge should last decades.
"We shoot for around 75 years,” Gove said.
He added that the bridge would remain similar in size to its predecessor, with no major changes to its length or width.
Originally scheduled for completion by Nov. 22, 2024, the project to build the new bridge faced a minor delay due to incoming rain and snow.
Gove said paving and final roadwork could be finished next week if weather permits.
“We’re hoping for a good day next week where they can pave it and get it finished up,” he said.
Detour ending soon
The old bridge was shut down around May 2023 due to its deteriorating condition.
Drivers who rely on the bridge for daily commutes have navigated a short detour since the closure about 18 months ago.
Once opened, the modern London West Road Bridge will restore an east-west connection for area residents. Drivers will no longer need to navigate detours through State Route 61 and Broadway. Though relatively short, the detour proved inconvenient for some.
Funding, costs, design
The $805,902.86 project was awarded to Millersburg-based contractor V.O. Menuez & Son. A federal grant covered 95% of the cost, leaving Richland County responsible for the remaining 5%.
“We don’t know of any cost overruns at this point," Gove said. “It may actually come in a little bit under the contract amount.”
The project began this past summer and focused on replacing the bridge's substructure before moving to the superstructure, which includes a cast-in-place concrete slab bridge with three spans.
The bridge spans an area near a reservoir that places part of it within the city limits of Shelby, with the rest extending into Plymouth Township
Gove described the updated structure as more durable but nearly identical in size to the original.
“Motorists shouldn’t notice much difference,” he said. “The previous edges were pretty worn, and we had a lot of holes developing in the floor."
"Hopefully, you won't even realize you're going over a bridge that much," Gove added.
The original bridge, constructed with steel beams, was kept open for as long as possible before it was deemed unsafe.
"We had done a lot of work to it to kind of keep the bridge open as far as the steel deck and the steel beams but then it got to the point where those beams just couldn’t be salvaged anymore or made safe,,” Gove said in an interview earlier this fall.
Nearby bridge project ahead of schedule
In addition to the London West Road Bridge, crews are nearing completion of a similar bridge replacement project on Champion Road in Plymouth Township, just a short distance away.
That Champion Road bridge replacement project was initially scheduled to finish next summer, but the contractor accelerated the timeline to aim for completion this year.
“They chose to move that one ahead on their schedule and try to get it done this year,” Gove said. "They're pretty close to being done as well. They are just waiting to finish up roadway and paving, probably by the first week of December, as well."
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