Published January 1990 — Download PDF of the original newspaper column
Byrd's-Eye View By U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd Rebuilding the Foundations In West Virginia and across the country, signs of wear on such facilities as dams, highways, bridges, water and sewer systems, city streets, barge locks, and other important public facilities are becoming commonplace. Thousands of miles of the national Interstate Highway System, begun in the 1950's, need repair and upgrading. Roughly half of the nation's more than 500,000 road and highway bridges are classified as unsafe or obsolete. An estimated one-fifth of America's dams and reservoirs are reportedly in need of safety improvements. In large cities and small towns alike, water and sewer systems are breaking down or proving inadequate to meet today's demands. Some estimates set the national cost of rebuilding our public services at several trillion dollars. Before the crumbling of these public works becomes a national crisis, we need to undertake the necessary reconstruction and replacement required to keep our country and state running smoothly and efficiently. For that reason, one of my priorities for West Virginia has been to appropriate federal monies to rebuild certain outmoded or decaying public projects. For example, I have helped to secure funds to replace a number of locks and dams on the Ohio River, including current work to replace the Gallipolis locks and dam near Point Pleasant, which is estimated to cost $336 million; to rebuild the Winfield locks and dam on the Kanawha in Putnam County, estimated at $195 million; and to rebuild Locks 7 and 8 on the Monongahela River north of Morgantown, estimated at $256.8 million. Additionally, I have obtained approximately $2 million to replace or rehabilitate roughly 60 primarily rural bridges in West Virginia, using native hardwoods and modern timber design, processing, and construction. Moreover, I helped to obtain funds to replace the Wheeling-Steubenville Bridge, the Marietta-Williamstown Bridge near Parkersburg, and the Sixth Street Bridge in Huntington. Within the last two years, I have also been able to add more than $100 million in funding for Appalachian Corridor Highways G and H in West Virginia. Although this is new construction, these roads will provide modern alternates to currently outmoded routes. Further, I have assisted scores of communities in our state to obtain funds to upgrade, expand, or modernize existing public water and sewerage systems. As we move into the 1990's and face the dawning of the twenty-first century, repairing or replacing our public support systems will become increasingly vital to America's and West Virginia's economic futures. January 10, 1990