HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 72

(By Delegates Hartman and D. Campbell)

Requesting the Division of Highways to name the Big Tee Bridge at Crystal Springs in Elkins, Randolph County, bridge number 42-14-0.06, the “Tim Belt Memorial Bridge”.

    Whereas, Timothy Joe Belt was born on November 2, 1968, to Ovid and JoAnn Belt of Charleston, Kanawha County. He lived in Maysel, West Virginia from the time he was in the third grade until his family moved to Elkins, West Virginia, where he graduated from Elkins High School in 1987. Tim's father is a Project Manager for J. F. Allen Company and has been with that company for 36 years. Tim grew up around road construction while accompanying his dad to work, often catching a ride on the heavy machinery moving dirt and making way for new roads. After high school Tim would go on to work for many well-known highway contractors, from West Virginia down to Florida, learning to operate many types of heavy equipment and becoming experienced in many types of highway construction. Tim would settle in Clay County, West Virginia, near family and his two little girls, but he always returned to Elkins to visit with family and friends. Tim spent the last 12 years of his life as the Vice President of C.L. Belt Construction, Inc., a highway contractor working for the West Virginia Division of Highways. Tim was at the helm of building over 40 bridges across the State of West Virginia, as well as many other concrete structures to help renovate the infrastructure of West Virginia. Tim passed away at the young age of 43 on December l7, 2011, after a courageous battle with cancer. The very last project he was in charge of bidding and building was the Big Tee Bridge in Elkins, West Virginia, his hometown. He is survived by his daughters, Alexis and Caitlin Belt, his parents, brothers, Billy and Pip, and sister, Tonja Stuart, nephews and nieces; and

    Whereas, Looking back over the 25 years Tim spent improving the roads of West Virginia, we can think of no better way to honor his memory than to memorialize his very last project, remarkably a bridge in his hometown, in his name; therefore, be it

    Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:

    That the Legislature hereby requests the Division of Highways to name the Big Tee Bridge at Crystal Springs in Elkins, Randolph County, bridge number 42-14-0.06, the “Tim Belt Memorial Bridge”; and, be it

    Further Resolved, That the Division of Highways is hereby requested to have made and be placed signs identifying the bridge as the “Tim Belt Memorial Bridge”; and, be it

    Further Resolved, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates forward a certified copy of this resolution to the Secretary of the Department of Transportation and to the surviving family of Timothy Joe Belt.