East Huntington Bridge Technical Access Inspection

The East Huntington Bridge, also known as the East End Bridge, is the first bridge of its kind in West Virginia. Serving as Huntington’s premiere eastern bypass, the inverted-Y pylon cable-stayed bridge is the culmination of nearly 20 years of planning. It is also the key to the area’s master plan for sustained development. That’s why, for the past 22 years, Modjeski and Masters (M&M) has been trusted with inspecting and maintaining this vital crossing.

 

During one such inspection, our experienced team of bridge inspectors found an obscure defect in the stay cable corrosion protection system. Left unabated, water and other deleterious agents could compromise the internal parallel wire stays. Under our advisement, the Division of Highways immediately asserted the need to closely inspect the stay cable corrosion protection system for other similar defects. This task was originally scoped to be completed using a crane-hoisted basket from atop the bridge roadway. M&M suggested that our Technical and Rope Access Team developed an innovative means of closely inspecting the stay cables without affecting traffic movements. The M&M solution: to use rappelling and a cable roller directional harness. This zero-impact approach allowed us to move smoothly up and down the full length of every stay cable for a complete, hands-on inspection. Substantial savings in time and cost were realized and the work proceeded without a planned two week full closure of the bridge to traffic. Following the inspection, M&M performed a detailed cable evaluation and designed repairs to the cable corrosion protective system.