CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — The West Virginia Division of Highways has awarded a contract to address around 8 miles of roadway on Interstate 79 between Saltwell Road and Anmoore.
DOH District 4 Manager Earl Gaskins confirmed that the contract was awarded to Mountaineer Contractors Inc. at a value of approximately $19.09 million to reconstruct and repave the eight miles of road due to pavement wear and tear that is considered “unusually heavy” for such infrastructure. The contract is expected to address a concern that has been highly discussed with state highway officials for several years, with a goal to complete construction by the end of 2026.
“It’s an isolated overhaul project, and it’s going to cover everything from Anmoore all the way to Saltwell,” said Gaskins. “We’re reconstructing the drainage, there’s going to be a brand new paving, it’s an extensive project that’s going to do a lot of good for this area.”
According to Gaskins, the work will consist of an overhaul of drainage infrastructure on portions of the eight miles of roadway of I-79 in Harrison County. The plan for Mountaineer Contractors Inc. is to begin work by the start of December to address drainage infrastructure repairs that are expected to be completed in spring 2026 before completing paving during the summer and fall of that year. More details are expected to be ironed out when DOH officials meet with contractors in the coming weeks.
“We’re meeting with the contractors here in the next couple weeks, and they’re wanting to get started in December,” said Gaskins. “There are going to be some major drains that we’re going to have to correct, and they’re wanting to get all that done this winter, that way they can start paving in the spring, everything is scheduled to be done by November of next year.”
The majority of the timeframe to complete the project will be used towards completing drainage improvements around the eight miles of roadway on I-79 between Saltwell Road and Anmoore. This will include a complete excavation of portions of the roadway added with the replacement of barrier walls and drainage structures that are expected to be completed by the end of the spring. With the drainage being considered the root cause for the need for the over $19 million overhaul, Gaskins expects contractors to start work on that aspect of the project almost immediately.
“We might have to do some pretty extensive excavation, we might have to remove some sections of a barrier wall that’s in place now, and we may add some drainage structures and then, of course, replace the wall that we’ve taken down to replace those,” said Gaskins. “So there’s a lot of work involved with correcting the drainage.”
For representatives with the West Virginia DOH, the work around that portion of I-79 around the Clarksburg area is long awaited, with plans on how to approach the drainage issues around the portion of I-79 located near Bridgeport. This project is also expected to support traffic increases that are expected to take place as development continues around Harrison County, particularly around the North Central West Virginia Airport. With the work expected to address a long-term problem in the North Central part of the state, the DOH and contractors appear ready to get to work.
“It’s long overdue, and we worked really hard with our leadership to get this project through, and luckily we did get it through,” said Gaskins. “Now we can start to see some progress in getting the repairs done.”