Twin tunnels form the Wheeling Tunnel in Wheeling

Wheeling, West Virginia

Wheeling is a city in Ohio and Marshall counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia; it is the county seat of Ohio County. Wheeling is the principal city of the Wheeling Metropolitan Statistical Area...

, Ohio County

Ohio County, West Virginia

As of the census of 2000, there were 47,427 people, 19,733 households, and 12,155 families residing in the county. The population density was 447 people per square mile . There were 22,166 housing units at an average density of 209 per square mile...

, West Virginia

West Virginia

West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...

. The tunnels are 0.27 miles (434.5 m) long, cutting though Wheeling Hill, and each carries two lanes of Interstate 70

Interstate 70 in West Virginia

Interstate 70 in the U.S. state of West Virginia crosses the Northern Panhandle region, through Ohio County and the city of Wheeling. The shortest segment of I-70 in any state it crosses is the segment in West Virginia, spanning across the panhandle...

 and U.S. Route 250. The tunnels originally took three years to construct, costing $6.9 million. Reconstruction of the tunnel, originally planned to take a total of 6 months, took over three years to complete between 2007 and 2010, at a cost of $13.7 million.

Overview

The Wheeling Tunnel sits between exits 1A and 1B on Interstate 70

Interstate 70 in West Virginia

Interstate 70 in the U.S. state of West Virginia crosses the Northern Panhandle region, through Ohio County and the city of Wheeling. The shortest segment of I-70 in any state it crosses is the segment in West Virginia, spanning across the panhandle...

 and U.S. Route 250, which run concurrent

Concurrency (road)

A concurrency, overlap, or coincidence in a road network is an instance of one physical road bearing two or more different highway, motorway, or other route numbers...

 through the city of Wheeling. The tunnel cuts through Wheeling Hill, and has two travel lanes in each tube. Due to the closeness of exit 1A to the western end of the tunnels, the tunnels' right lanes function as acceleration and deceleration lanes. Through traffic is restricted to the left lane in each tunnel and lane changes are prohibited.

A series of accidents involving semi-trailer trucks prompted local political candidates to push for trucks to be banned from the tunnel, diverting them to the nearby I-470.

Construction

The twin tunnels, which cost $6.9 million (equivalent to $ million in ) to construct, use a total of 13000 square feet (1,207.7 m²) of industrial tile to line the interior of the tunnel. Then governor William Wallace Barron

William Wallace Barron

William Wallace "Wally" Barron was a Democratic machine politician in West Virginia. He was the state's 26th Governor from 1961 to 1965. He later served a prison term due to his corrupt actions....

, and the state roads commissioner broke ground on the tunnel on August 22, 1963, which he stated was the largest single construction project in the state's Interstate Highway

Interstate Highway System

The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, , is a network of limited-access roads including freeways, highways, and expressways forming part of the National Highway System of the United States of America...

 program. The construction contract was awarded to C.J. Langenfelder & Son, Inc. located in Baltimore, Maryland. Several workers became ill after being exposed to high amounts of carbon monoxide

Carbon monoxide

Carbon monoxide , also called carbonous oxide, is a colorless, odorless, and tasteless gas that is slightly lighter than air. It is highly toxic to humans and animals in higher quantities, although it is also produced in normal animal metabolism in low quantities, and is thought to have some normal...

 fumes, which brought construction to a halt in 1964 until ventilation fans were installed. The tunnel officially opened to traffic on December 7, 1966.

Renovations

Plans for the reconstruction of the tunnel were formed in 2005, with reconstruction work beginning in January 2007. Reconstruction of the tunnel was planned to take 3 months, but reconstruction of the eastbound tunnel, which was not totally completed, took over eleven months. After the issues with the reconstruction work, local politicians suggested closing the tunnels all together, and to just build the freeway over Wheeling Hill, however after opposition from the NAACP and other groups, the suggestions were dropped. Completion of the eastbound tunnel reconstruction begin in July 2008, when the tiles were replaced for the first time with new tiles fabricated by a German tile manufacturer. The Division of Highways had to award the contract to the German company because no other company could complete the request with in the time frame required. The original tiles were made by a now-defunct company based in Cleveland. During the second round of eastbound tunnel reconstruction, the westbound tunnel was also closed overnight for construction work. The eastbound tunnel reconstruction was completed on October 31, 2008. The westbound tube was closed in February 2010, and opened a month ahead of schedule in September 2010. The total cost of the project was over double the original bid, totaling $13.7 million, due to the delays.

See also

• Interstate 70 in West Virginia
  Interstate 70 in West Virginia
  Interstate 70 in the U.S. state of West Virginia crosses the Northern Panhandle region, through Ohio County and the city of Wheeling. The shortest segment of I-70 in any state it crosses is the segment in West Virginia, spanning across the panhandle...
  
  
• U.S. Route 250 in West Virginia

External links

• Wheeling Tunnel at BridgeHunter.com