The Memorial Bridge linking Parkersburg and Belpre, shown Wednesday, will be closed for approximately 45 days starting March 15. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

PARKERSBURG — Information learned during preliminary work and inspections this winter led the company buying the Memorial Bridge to conclude a complete closure was needed at the start of the planned full-scale rehabilitation.

Parkersburg Bridge Partners announced this week that the bridge is slated to close on Tuesday, March 15, for an estimated 45 days so the company can perform “a full examination of the current bridge deck and steel superstructure.”

On Wednesday, Ryan Dolan, vice president of business for Parkersburg Bridge Partners parent company United Bridge Partners, said the steel grid deck beneath the paved roadway is welded to the bridge’s superstructure. During work to address maintenance needs and prepare the bridge for the heavier load of construction equipment, “we discovered that there were a lot more welds than we anticipated,” he said.

“Over time, as the bridge is used, stress builds up in those welds,” Dolan said.

The closure will allow contractors to mill down the driving surface to access the deck, remove the existing welds and replace them to relieve that pressure and restore the bridge to a state of equilibrium, he said.

The Memorial Bridge linking Parkersburg and Belpre, shown Wednesday, will be closed for approximately 45 days starting March 15. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

Dolan said there is no risk to motorists continuing to cross the bridge over the next week.

“The bridge is safe to use, and when we reopen the bridge under our one-lane closures, it will be completely safe,” he said.

The company’s purchase of the 67-year-old toll bridge is expected to close prior to the start of the work next week, said Emily Myers Duke, spokeswoman for Parkersburg Bridge Partners.

The city will receive $4 million, and the buyer will release any claim on approximately $11.8 million allocated by the city for maintenance and demolition costs.

Next week’s closure will mark the start of a $50 million rehabilitation project expected to last until October 2023. Planned improvements include a new paint and coating system, complete deck removal and replacement, replacement of the existing bridge parapet handrail, steel superstructure repairs, concrete pier and column repairs, new LED roadway and decorative lighting and repaved and improved bridge roadway approaches.

The bridge’s open steel grid deck will eventually be replaced with a cast-in-place concrete deck system. Officials have said that will provide a longer service life while shortening the project and making the work safer.

“It’s the ideal deck surface going forward,” Dolan said.

Once the full closure is over, traffic will be reduced to one lane for much of the remainder of the project. Duke noted that the existing toll system will remain in place until all the work is completed, so tickets purchased recently will still be usable for more than a year.

When the project is finished, tolls are expected to rise to at least $1 for a single trip across. Money will be collected electronically, either by a transponder motorists can purchase or billing after a vehicle’s license plate is scanned when it crosses the bridge.

Evan Bevins can be reached at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com.