CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- For those who complain about the nasty bump on the Kanawha Boulevard bridge over the Elk River, the end is in sight.

For those who complain whenever the city closes the Boulevard, though, there's bad news: City officials expect to close the bridge for repairs for about two months early next year.

Repairs to the South Side Bridge also are planned later this year and next year, but the bridge will not be completely closed, engineers say.

Engineers say the bump at the west end of the Boulevard bridge was created by a chain reaction: A massive concrete retaining wall at the western approach to the bridge - they call it the west abutment backwall - has tilted slightly, raising one edge of the wall. That in turn has lifted the road surface a few inches so the western approach is higher than the bridge deck, just past the metal expansion joint.

City officials originally planned to start work in early October, just after the annual Rod Run Doo Wop car show when parts of the Boulevard are already closed.

"The problem is part of the work involves removing part of the asphalt deck," said City Engineer Chris Knox. "The asphalt plants shut down after the first of November. If we had a delay, we might not have got the asphalt put back on this year."

Plan B is to start work in late winter, so that repaving can be done as soon as the asphalt plants reopen.

"We'll put it out to bid in January to February and start construction in late February or early March. It will take approximately two months; that will be the closure."

The Boulevard will be closed from Clendenin Street to Pennsylvania Avenue during repairs, Knox said.

As that project nears completion, city officials expect to hire a contractor to strip and paint the steel bridge. That work can be done while the bridge is open to traffic, he said.

The price tag for both jobs could run between $1 million and $2 million. "This will be some of that user fee money at work," Knox said.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- For those who complain about the nasty bump on the Kanawha Boulevard bridge over the Elk River, the end is in sight.

For those who complain whenever the city closes the Boulevard, though, there's bad news: City officials expect to close the bridge for repairs for about two months early next year.

Repairs to the South Side Bridge also are planned later this year and next year, but the bridge will not be completely closed, engineers say.

Engineers say the bump at the west end of the Boulevard bridge was created by a chain reaction: A massive concrete retaining wall at the western approach to the bridge - they call it the west abutment backwall - has tilted slightly, raising one edge of the wall. That in turn has lifted the road surface a few inches so the western approach is higher than the bridge deck, just past the metal expansion joint.

City officials originally planned to start work in early October, just after the annual Rod Run Doo Wop car show when parts of the Boulevard are already closed.

"The problem is part of the work involves removing part of the asphalt deck," said City Engineer Chris Knox. "The asphalt plants shut down after the first of November. If we had a delay, we might not have got the asphalt put back on this year."

Plan B is to start work in late winter, so that repaving can be done as soon as the asphalt plants reopen.

"We'll put it out to bid in January to February and start construction in late February or early March. It will take approximately two months; that will be the closure."

The Boulevard will be closed from Clendenin Street to Pennsylvania Avenue during repairs, Knox said.

As that project nears completion, city officials expect to hire a contractor to strip and paint the steel bridge. That work can be done while the bridge is open to traffic, he said.

The price tag for both jobs could run between $1 million and $2 million. "This will be some of that user fee money at work," Knox said.

The city hired Michael Baker Jr. Inc. of Cross Lanes to design repairs to three city bridges, said Jack Justice, a senior technical adviser with the consultants - Kanawha Boulevard, South Side and the Loudon Heights Road concrete arched bridge.

"The first thing we wanted to do was the Kanawha Boulevard," he said. "We've got the plans complete for that, and we're working on the South Side Bridge now."

The biggest part of the Boulevard project involves repairs to the retaining wall and removal of asphalt paving on the western approach. The beam - 18 inches wide, at least 10 feet tall and nearly 70 feet long - that holds backfill on the western approach has cracked, he said.

About the top 6 feet of that wall will be removed and rebuilt, down to the horizontal crack, he said.

The consultants also found the wall has lifted the pavement on the western end, nearly 19 feet back, so that asphalt will be removed and replaced. The entire top layer of paving on the bridge deck, which is cracked and allows corroding water to penetrate, will also be replaced.

In addition, several other small repairs are planned: Fixing damaged handrails; resurfacing both sidewalks; filling cracks in the bridge piers and rebuilding spots where barges and debris have knocked off chunks of concrete.

Meanwhile, motorists may have noticed workers checking out the South Side Bridge two evenings this week. They were "sounding" the top layer of concrete to identify spots where it has separated from the subsurface, Knox said. The results were to be mapped Wednesday evening.

"We wanted to see how bad it is," he said. "It's not as good as I thought it would be."

About 10 small sections will be cut out and replaced this fall, with contractors working at night, Knox said.

More extensive repairs are being mapped out for next year, but a total shutdown is not planned, Justice said. "Absolutely not. There may be some lane closures. Our goal is to not inconvenience the public."

Reach Jim Balow at ba...@wvgazette.com or 348-5102.