Corona-Bayard Road Bridge

The Corona-Bayard Road Bridge was constructed by the Wrought Iron Bridge Company of Ohio ² in 1896. ^1 2 4

The bridge was constructed as a three-span crossing, with two steel beam approach spans and a center pin-connected Pratt through truss.^2 3 4 The truss contained five panels with diagonal endposts, and had a main span length of 91.3 feet. It originally had a vertical clearance of 13.7 feet, but at some point prior to 1984, a vertical restriction device was added that capped the clearance to 8.6 feet.

On November 25, 1935, the State Roads Commission of Maryland and West Virginia agreed to reconstruct the Corona-Bayard Road Bridge, although there is no evidence existing to show what reconstruction work was conducted.² New stringers and steel deck were added in 1961, and the spans were strengthened in 1982, and on several occasions between 1982 and 1988.^2 4

Large trucks hauling coal illegally crossed the bridge on a daily basis, ignoring the posted weight limit that accelerated deterioration of the bridge. On July 8, 1988,⁴ the Corona-Bayard Road Bridge was closed to traffic due to the presence of deteriorated fracture critical members, the moderate to severe deterioration in the stringers, the losses on the steel grid deck, the stringer weld attachments to the floor beams that were broken, the tipped and mis-arranged steel bent supporting columns, and extensive rusting.^2 3 4

The Corona-Bayard Road Bridge was scheduled for replacement. A bid request was posted on January 11, 2012 with it being due to the office on February 9.⁵ The contract for the bridge replacement was let to Carl Belt Inc. on May 15 for the amount of $1,246,205.⁶