WORK STARTS AGAIN ON EMERSON BRIDGE

Work on the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge at Cape Girardeau will resume next month, long before state highway officials had expected.

Work stopped in December after it was discovered that portions of the bedrock in which piers were being placed contained seams of mud rather than solid rock, and the contractor at the time wouldn't proceed. Those seams must be filled with a cement grout mixture, a process that will take about four months to complete

Highway officials said in December they expected a construction delay of about a year, but contracts for the grouting and other work on the bridge have since been awarded. Barring unforeseen developments, which include a high Mississippi River for an extended time, the bridge should still be completed close to or not much later scheduled in 2002.

The four-lane bridge, which will connect with the new east-west Highway 74 across Cape Girardeau, is a major undertaking that will cost in excess of $90 million.

The Missouri Department of Transportation, the lead agency on the project, is to be commended for seeing to it that work proceeds as quickly as possible after the setback. The new bridge is long-awaited and will be a major asset to the region.