RIPLEY — A $6 million project to replace an aging bridge named after a World War II airman from Jackson County is among 18 construction projects awarded this week by the West Virginia Division of Highways.

The projects were awarded from a bid letting conducted on Dec. 17.

The U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Clarence Dragoo Memorial Bridge, which carries Old West Virginia 21 across Sycamore Creek in Jackson County, will be replaced with a 107-foot, two-lane bridge with sidewalks, Division of Highways State Bridge Engineer Tracy Brown said in a news release. The original bridge was built in 1925 and carried weight restrictions.

Brayman Construction Corporation was awarded the contract to replace the bridge, with a bid of $6,092,500.35.

In 2018, the bridge was named in honor of Clarence Dragoo, a Sandyville native who lost his life in the closing months of World War II.

A navigator on a B-24 bomber, Dragoo was on a mission over Italy on Feb. 28, 1945, when his bomber took heavy antiaircraft fire over the target. Dragoo and the rest of his crew survived the bombing run, but their aircraft crashed in the Adriatic Sea, taking all 11 crew members with it.

The plane was found in 2015. Following DNA testing to confirm his identity, his remains were returned to Jackson County for final burial in 2017.

Brown said the bridge will be replaced in stages to allow traffic to remain on it during construction. The downstream half of the bridge will be replaced first, followed by the upstream side.

Among the other projects awarded this week as part of the Dec. 17 letting was a $450,160 contract to Green Acres Contracting Company Inc.for a guardrail project in DOH District 3, which includes Calhoun, Jackson, Pleasants, Roane, Wirt and Wood counties.