Otterslide Truss Bridge

The Otterslide Truss Bridge once carried County Route 7/13 over the South Fork Hughes River in Berea, a community in Ritchie County, West Virginia.

The York Bridge Company of York, Pennsylvania, built the Pratt pony truss in 1913. ^{1 3} Over the years, the structure underwent several modifications.

During a 1976 inspection, a ¾-inch cable and turnbuckle were added around a pin to reinforce a cracked eyebar. ³ By the following year, the endposts and upper chord were strengthened with new steel angles. In 1985, the lower chords were replaced, the structure was repainted, and the backwalls were repaired. Additional work was performed in 2011, including reattaching a railing, sealing the deck, and cleaning and painting the bearings.

In 2017, the bridge was decommissioned and replaced by a Warren pony truss bridge. ¹ The new structure, funded by a gas company, ² was built by the U.S. Bridge Company. ¹

The 1913 Otterslide Truss Bridge was dismantled in May 2025. ² A crane was used to dismantle the bridge to minimize environmental impacts, including preserving a high-quality warmwater fishery, protecting federally endangered freshwater mussels, and safeguarding the Northern Long-eared Bat. The dismantling took take place on an adjacent property. The project was funded by a $497,931 Formula Grant awarded by the Federal Highway Administration in November 2024. ⁴