Harrison County Bridge Projects of Nearly $5M Sees One Under Way and Another Scheduled for Rebidding
By Jeff Toquinto on May 06, 2025
Work on a pair of Harrison County bridges is part of several projects approved recently by the West Virginia Division of Highways and one of the projects is well underway.
Recently, the WVDOH approved a bid of $620,789 for a project on the US Army PFC Joe Messe Sr. Memorial Bridge. SQP Construction Group Inc., is doing the work on the bridge.
For those that do not know, it is a heavily utilized bridge at the intersection of West Virginia State Route 20 and West Virgina Route 58 in Stonewood. It is the bridge that takes drivers from Stonewood to Nutter Fort.
“This is essentially a bridge rehabilitation project. It mainly involves concrete repairs and patching on various areas of the abutments and pier concrete and the concrete beams and parapet walls. The approach roadways will be repaved once bridge work is complete,” said Jason Nelson, PE, WVDOH District 4 Construction Engineer.
The work on the bridge actually started on April 14. It is set to be completed in August of this year. Anyone who has traveled through the 
intersection already knows there are delays.
intersection already knows there are delays.
“While work is being done under the bridge (abutments, pier and underside of beams) there will be little disturbance but once work move to the top of the deck, a temp signal and/or flaggers will be used to control one lane, two-way traffic,” said Nelson. “The close proximity of the existing signal will cause it to be modified to accommodate the reduced lanes on the bridge. We only expect this to cause minor delays due to slightly longer hold times on the signal.”
According to Nelson, the contractor can work any hour of the day as long as not within 600 ft of a residence. He said he anticipates most of the work will take place during daytime hours.
As for the other bridge, the status is unclear, but when it is addressed, it will be a major project. Brayman Construction Corporation was the low bidder on a grading, drainage, and paving project for the Con Hunters Arch Bridge, with a bid of $4,391,441.15.
The bridge is on County Route 5/7. That area is just off Marshville Road, or County Route 5.
“This is a full replacement of an approximate 100-foot-long bridge,” Nelson said.
The issue with this particular project is that only one bid was received, and the bid was rejected. When done, it will cause some inconvenience for those utilizing the bridge.
“At some point in the project the existing bridge will be completely closed with no temporary bridge installed,” Nelson said. “Access will be maintained on either side of the bridge by other local roads.”
Due to the project needing rebid, Nelson had no further details.
Editor's Note: Top photo shows the US Army PFC Joe Messe Sr. Memorial Bridge and the traffic signal in place along with work shown being done on one side of the bridge. The second image is a map of the bridge's location. In the third image, a map of the Con Hunters Arch Bridge.
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