Carries WV 807 / SR 807 Design Cantilever truss Address St Marys, WV 26170, USA Body of water Ohio River Inaugurated 19 November 1977 | Crosses Ohio River Construction begin June 19, 1973 Total length 786 m Construction cost 25.1 million USD (US) | |
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Designer E. Lionel Pavlo Engineering Company, New York, N.Y. Similar Ohio River, New Martinsville Bridge, Marietta–Williamstown Interstate Bridge, Silver Memorial Bridge, Benjamin G Humphre | ||
The Hi Carpenter Memorial Bridge is a cantilever bridge over the Ohio River between Newport, Ohio and St. Marys, West Virginia. It carries Ohio State Route 807 (SR 807) and West Virginia Route 807 (WV 807) and serves to connect WV 2 with OH 7.
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Description
The Hi Carpenter Memorial Bridge begins immediately to the north of the road's T intersection with WV 2 (Pleasants Highway) just west of the city of St. Marys in Pleasants County, West Virginia. WV 2 heads southwest toward Parkersburg and northeast into St. Marys, where it provides access to WV 16. The four-lane cantilever truss bridge crosses over CSX's Ohio River Subdivision rail line before crossing the Ohio River. The bridge crosses the West Virginia–Ohio state line near the Ohio bank of the river. The structure ends immediately after crossing over OH 7 just east of the unincorporated village of Newport in Newport Township in Washington County, Ohio. From the north end of the bridge, the northern approach road has a sharp U-curve to the southeast to its end at an intersection with OH 7. OH 7 heads west through Newport toward Marietta and northeast toward Matamoras. The Ohio portion of the bridge and its approach road is part of the 0.42-mile-long (0.68 km) OH 807. The West Virginia portion of the bridge and its approach road is part of WV 807.
History
The Hi Carpenter Memorial Bridge was completed in 1977. This bridge replaced a 1928 eyebar suspension bridge that was closed immediately following the collapse of the similarly-designed Silver Bridge in 1967. SR 807 was established in 1977 with the completion of the current Hi Carpenter Memorial Bridge. The bridge is named in honor of Hiram A. Carpenter (December 3, 1880 – April 19, 1970), a well-known riverman who began his career ferrying mail between Raven Rock and Leith, Ohio, when he was 13 years old. He was successful in many enterprises, including the sand and gravel business, farming thirteen Ohio River islands that he owned at one time, apple raising, road construction, transportation, and his greatest undertaking, building the Short Route Bridge in 1928.