Sunday, August 11, 2024

1988 Glade Creek Bridge in Raleigh County, WV

(Archived Bridge Hutner; no Historic Bridges; Highest BridgesSatellite)

The official name is the Phil G. McDonald Memorial Bridge.

WVDOT
"The 2,179-foot [664m, 0.4 mile) bridge rises 700 feet above Glade Creek and is the highest bridge in the United States interstate highway system, and the sixth tallest bridge in the country."

The tallest pier is 341' (104m) tall, and the average daily traffic is 13,006. [BridgeHunter]

WVDOT
"On Monday, July 1, 2024, bridge inspectors discovered cracks in a bridge girder connection during a routine inspection....WVDOH engineers are developing a plan to repair the location identified in today's routine inspection."

Abandoned World posted, also on HighestBridges
"The bridge has the distinction of being the highest continuous truss bridge in the world.  Thanks to Mark Carver for this post."

HighestBridges, this web page has a lot of photos
 Much of Glade Creek’s status as a “hidden” high bridge is probably due to its being in the shadow of the world-famous New River Gorge bridge located just 20 miles (32 km) to the north. Even so, at 700 feet (213 mtrs), Glade Creek is exactly 80 percent as high as the New River span. And although it does not have the same prestige as “The World’s Highest Arch Bridge”, Glade Creek still holds a record of its own as the “World’s Highest Truss Bridge”.

HighestBridges

M&M
"The truss main span is 784 feet [239m] with side spans of 500 feet [152m] each and is flanked by two girder spans on each end for a total length of 2,180 feet. Using innovative technical climbing and rope access methods, our team of inspectors scaled the 300+ foot piers. M&M also performed an interim inspection of the bridge’s fracture critical members. Additionally, non-destructive testing was performed on key bridge elements, including an ultrasonic inspection of eight link bearing pins."

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