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Between November 2023 and May 2024, WVDOT crews cut trees and branches along 573 acres of roadside. This activity can only be done during the winter months, when bats aren’t holing up in trees. Keeping trees and branches from overhanging the road allows sunlight in to dry wet road surfaces and extends the life of pavement.
 
During the calendar year the WVDOT also paved 1,170 miles of road, including 240 paved by WVDOT road crews. Gov. Jim Justice’s Roads to Prosperity program and supplemental budget appropriations approved by the state Legislature have allowed the WVDOT to pave unprecedented numbers of roads over the past five years.

“We’ve paved more roads than we’ve paved in our entire history,” Wriston said.
 
Contractors and WVDOT road crews also repaired more than 16,000 linear feet of slips and slides during the year. Slips – where the earth falls away beneath a road – and slides – where earth and rock fall onto a road – are a big problem for motorists. The WVDOT is constantly juggling repairing existing slips and slides and addressing newly occurring slips and slides, but uses a data-driven approach to make repairs as quickly as possible. Since 2021, the number of slips needing repair in the state has fallen from approximately 2,300 to approximately 500.
 
“Gov. Justice told me the other day, he said, ‘We’ve done the impossible,’” Wriston said. “It’s quality work, and we did it the right way.”

The WVDOT also completed several important projects in 2024, including the four-mile Scott Miller Hill Bypass in Roane County, the new Donald M. Legg Memorial Bridge and six-lane widening of Interstate 64 in Kanawha County, and opening of the completely rebuilt Beckley Travel Plaza on the West Virginia Turnpike.
 
The WVDOT looks forward to doing even more in 2025.

The 2024 calendar year was also an award-winning time for the WVDOT. During the calendar year, the WVDOT won no fewer than 13 regional and national awards, many of them for the iconic Wellsburg Bridge project in Brooke County.
 
The Wellsburg Bridge, which opened in September 2023, received national and international attention for its unique construction method. Contractors Flatiron Construction built the 830-foot main span of the bridge on the banks of the Ohio River, then floated it into place downstream and jacked it up onto its pilings in a 13-hour operation in April 2021. It was the largest bridge float and bridge lift in North America.
 
The bridge connects the communities of Wellsburg, West Virginia, and Brilliant, Ohio, turning what used to be a half-hour commute between the two towns to mere minutes. An estimated 2,500 people attended the grand opening of the bridge on Wednesday, September 21, 2023.
 
“I don’t remember, ever, the WVDOT winning national and regional awards,” Wriston said. “It makes you proud to work with all these great people that are in the organization, and all those great partners that we’ve cultivated all across the region and all across the country over this past year. We’re a player, We have some status.”

• 2024 American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) Diamond Award.
• 2024 ACEC Engineering Excellence Award.
• Engineering News-Record Mid-Atlantic Regional 2024 Best Projects Award.
• 2024 American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) “America’s Transportation Award” for best use of technology.
• 2024 AASHTO “America’s Transportation Award” People’s Choice.
• 2024 AASHTO Committee on Communications Skills Award for the WVDOT Public Relations Division for opening event celebrating the Wellsburg Bridge.