Ohio 7 at Mingo Junction Reopens After Cleanup | News, Sports, Jobs

This photo from the Ohio Department of Transportation shows workers putting the finishing touches on barriers just before a portion of Ohio 7 near Mingo Junction reopened Friday.

In just over 24 hours, crews managed to clear a massive landslide that had closed Ohio 7 between Steubenville and Mingo Junction, reopening the highway to traffic.

Traffic began flowing again around 3 p.m. Friday after a coordinated effort by the Ohio Department of Transportation and contractors to clear debris, restore the work area and reopen the road.

The landslide was caused by normal blasting operations for ODOT’s ongoing project to remediate rockfall on the hillside overlooking Ohio 7. The project, expected to be completed June 30, regularly uses controlled explosions for excavations on weekdays at noon, and Thursday’s explosion released a larger amount of debris than expected.

Water seepage into both lanes of Ohio 7 temporarily closed the road.

Lauren Borell, public information officer for ODOT Eastern Ohio District 11, said crews from the project’s contractor, Kokosing, and subcontractor Cast and Baker Corp. worked until 10 p.m. Thursday to clear the road and returned to work after 5 a.m. Friday.

By Thursday evening, the road had been cleared of debris and swept in preparation for the installation of new concrete barriers, Borell said. They were in place by 10 a.m., and the new dumpsters arrived by 11:30 a.m. After reflective markings were placed on the barriers, Ohio 7 was ready for action.

Borell said she and the crews were surprised to see that the landslide “did not cause any damage to the road surface at all.”

When normal blasting operations resume, an upcoming review meeting with all parties involved in the project is scheduled, Borell said. He added that the meeting could also provide more information about what geological factors played a role in the larger-than-expected landslide.

Borell said the energy from the explosion caused the rock face to be pushed outward. A number of geologic factors could have influenced the explosion, which was carried out with the same type of charge as previous explosions. The charge for Thursday’s explosion was placed 13 feet back from the hill, on the wide shelf atop the hill’s lowest terrace overlooking Ohio 7, Borell said, adding that the charges were angled toward the back of the hill.

Even before the project began, officials “basically took X-rays of the slope” to observe the composition of the rock and possible cracks and waterways, Borell said. All that information played a role in how the project was planned, especially when it came to blasting.

“When they’re measuring out and making the core for drilling, it’s very well planned out in advance. They take a lot of steps to systematically plan where they’re going to drop those charges.”

During the cleanup, police and ODOT officials diverted traffic via a detour route on Ohio 151 and US 22.

Mingo Junction Police Chief Willie McKenzie III said Friday that “thousands of cars” had used the town as a bypass since Ohio 7 was closed. In addition, he said, officers had responded to calls and diverted confused people to other routes, including over the Wellsburg-Brilliant Bridge for a detour along W.Va. 2.

The only problems in Mingo Junction itself came from semi-trailers trying to cut through the center of town and getting stuck in the Commercial Street train bridge underpass Thursday, McKenzie said. Officers helped turn those semi-trailers around, and other law enforcement officers would later prevent such vehicles from traveling that far north on Commercial Street.

“ODOT, Kokosing and the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department all did a great job of directing traffic and keeping drivers informed about what was going on and how long it might be before the highway would reopen,” McKenzie said.

Of the landslide itself, McKenzie said: “As long as there are no fatalities or serious injuries, we’re doing fine, because you can’t replace a life.”

Austin Raymond, interim fire chief for the Mingo Junction Fire Department, said the closure of Route 7 did not hinder the fire department’s work because personnel were able to properly utilize detours and work around the problem.

Wellsburg Police Chief Michael Allman said the city had seen an increase in semi-trailer traffic since Ohio 7 was closed. The situation had been relatively smooth, with most of the congestion confined to the southern end of the city. As of 2 p.m. Friday, Allman said, there had been no accidents on W.Va. 2, but the department would continue to monitor the situation.

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