Repair Should Allow Tunnel Green Trail To Reopen In April
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WHEELING - The Hempfield Tunnel on Heritage Trail at Tunnel Green in Wheeling is expected to re-open to the public sometime in April if a new plan is approved to repair a deteriorating portion of the historic tunnel.
This week, an ordinance was introduced before Wheeling City Council authorizing City Manager Robert Herron to spend $84,000 with National Gunite of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, for rehabilitation of the tunnel. The work will be charged to the city’s Project Fund.
The Hempfield Tunnel has been closed to the public since December in light of structural concerns. City officials said moisture from inside the tunnel has caused bricks to fall in one section of the tunnel’s roof, while there are two other areas of concern where moisture is occurring, but no bricks have come loose.
Some early estimates for a long-term repair to the tunnel had topped $500,000. Officials in recent weeks had been working to gather alternative estimates and proposals from other contractors for ways to fix the tunnel and get it reopened.
National Gunite is expected to repair only the section where the falling bricks caused the hazard and prompted the city to close the tunnel.
"It’s like a concrete mix that you put up there to stabilize the bricks that are there now," Herron said. "We’re not going to replace the bricks that have fallen. We’re going to stabilize everything on the spot that is deteriorating."
Herron explained that the city will take a step back and look at the other areas where moisture has accumulated and explore options for a long-term remedy.
Officials this week noted that the cost of the proposed repair to the tunnel’s troubled spot is significantly less than the half-million-dollar initial proposal.
"We’re not going to tear everything down and put it back," Herron said, noting that the repair will not address the moisture areas where bricks have not come loose. "We don’t feel it’s in imminent danger of falling."
The tunnel - which by many accounts of local lore is "haunted" - was initially constructed in 1857 as part of the Hempfield Railroad. It was rebuilt in 1904-05 after the B&O Railroad purchased the rail line. It remained in service until 1987, and in the 1990s, the tracks were removed. The former railroad line became a rails-to-trails project later in the 1990s, when Heritage Trail was opened - including the tunnel and the old stone viaduct over Wheeling Creek at Tunnel Green.
Wheeling City Council will have to hold a second reading on the ordinance to hire National Gunite and vote on the legislation in March. Officials indicated that they hope the repair will allow them to reopen the tunnel in time for walkers, runners and bicyclists to use it in early spring.
"This fix is considered to be a permanent one for the area where it is being applied," Herron said.
"I just wanted to thank you for your prioritization for stabilizing the tunnel," Councilman Ben Seidler told Herron during this week’s city council meeting. "I appreciate you taking care of that quickly to get that taken care of."
Members of Bike Wheeling and Ohio Valley Trail Partners held a meeting earlier this month and mentioned that the re-opening of the Hempfield Tunnel was a top priority.
Ohio Valley Trail Partners were prepared to speak before Wheeling City Council this week to urge city leaders to at least put a temporary fix in the tunnel. However, the new legislation regarding the repair was read before representatives got a chance to speak.
The Ohio Valley Trail Partners and Bike Wheeling are also hoping to find support in the coming months for the purchase of the piers that are expected to be left behind after the Aetnaville Bridge between Wheeling Island and Bridgeport is demolished next year. If a private entity can step forward and take ownership of the piers, it is hoped that a new, much smaller span can be installed there so walkers and cyclists can still cross into Ohio over the river’s back channel there in the future.