Things are back to
normal on Interstate 77 near Sissonville.
Traffic is running
smoothly, and travelers are getting where they need to go.
Just days ago, an 800
foot section of the roadway was destroyed by a natural gas explosion, powerful
enough to melt road-signs, and level five homes.
Chet Rodabaugh was the
paving manager who assembled the crew once they got the call.
Rodabaugh and ten crew
members made their way to the scene, went to work at 5 p.m. Tuesday, and had the
job finished by 8 a.m. Wednesday.
They were seven hours
ahead of schedule.
"This, by far is
the worst I've seen." Said Rodabaugh. "We
do a lot of car and truck fires, but that's just small patches. I talked to some other guys who were out
there and they've never seen anything like it either and they've been here a
lot longer than I have."
The crew paved 930 tons
of hot mix asphalt on the north and south bound lanes. By 3:30 a.m. Wednesday, the northbound
lanes were opened. By 8:05
a.m., the south bound lanes were opened.
"West Virginians are known for
that. I'm really glad and pleased to be
in a state where people will do that when there are problems," said Randy Camp
of Haynes Branch.
Shelley Bridemore lives
near the site of the explosion. She
said, "A lot of us here in Sissonville are really proud of them for
getting it open."
One crew member, Josh
Whitlock, ran the asphalt roller all night.
Along with brushing debris on the roadway, the roller sprays water so
asphalt doesn't stick to the equipment.
For 15 hours Whitlock
was soaking wet in 20 degree temperatures.
"Got guys like that
I work with every day. They never
complain or anything, it just whatever it takes to get the job done. Makes it nice when you come to work every day
and you have those people to work with," said Rodabaugh.
Camp said, "I
expected it to be down at least a week. It was very surprising how quickly they
got it repaired and resumed travel because I know traffic was backed up for
miles."
These men say they were
just doing their job, but for people who depend on the Interstate, they worked
a miracle.
West Virginia Paving
shut down for the season the first week of December.
They called those employees
in to work on their off time the night of the explosion.
Rodabaugh said he had
pavers contacting him from across West Virginia asking if they could
help with the job.
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