Published: July 04, 2009 07:27 pm      

King Coal Highway bridge close to completion

BLUEFIELD — After more than three years of construction, work on the new $16.2 million King Coal Highway bridge in Bluefield is nearing a long-awaited completion.

Motorists traveling along Stoney Ridge in recent days have noticed the bridge looks finished. King Coal Highway Executive Director Mike Mitchem also came to the same conclusion after recently driving under the bridge while in Bluefield.

“It looks like it is close to completion,” Mitchem said. “October was the original completion date. And they are still looking at October, but they would like to finish a little sooner if they could.”

Mitchem said the contractor is still pouring concrete on the left and right hand lanes of the bridge.

“Right now they’ve got the northbound deck almost complete on pouring the concrete,” Mitchem said. “The southbound deck — they’ve got a couple of pours —but they just got started on that. He said they’ve still got to pour the walls, and the slabs that go on each end of the road.”

When completed this fall, the twin interstate bridges will span high above Route 19 to Stoney Ridge. The bridge connects with the existing K.A. Ammar Interchange in Bluefield. However, the new four-lane corridor currently comes to an abrupt end at a large mountainous ridge.

Mitchem said local officials are still looking to the 2009 federal highways appropriation bill for the release of additional federal funding necessary to keep the project construction moving toward Stoney Ridge, Route 123, and the Mercer County Airport.

U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., has requested $60 million in the new 2010 federal highway transportation bill currently being drafted by Congress for the King Coal Highway project in Mercer County. Rahall is hoping the funding will allow for a continuation of the highway construction at the new bridge in Bluefield to Route 123 and the Mercer County Airport.

When completed at some point in the future, the King Coal Highway will travel 95 miles through Mingo, Wayne, Wyoming, McDowell and Mercer counties with the Tolsia segment from Williamson to Huntington extending another 55 miles. It will interchange with the Coalfields Expressway in Welch near the Indian Ridge Industrial Park and the site of the new federal prison. The King Coal and Tolsia Highways represent the West Virginia corridors of Interstate 73/74.

– Contact Charles Owens at cowens@bdtonline.com