BRIDGE OVER MUDDY WATERS: MISSISSIPPI RIVER BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION CONTINUES

The equipment is in place, and construction crews are waiting on the river to re-start work on the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge. Several problems, from soft bedrock to high waters, have caused delays.

The bridge will span the Mississippi River, connecting Cape Girardeau with Southern Illinois. It will replace the present narrow bridge built in 1927.

"Everything is ready and on go," said Randy Hitt, area engineer for the Missouri Department of Transportation. "We've been in sort of a holding pattern."

The area where workers need to be is under water, said Hitt. "Hopefully, work can get under way this week."

The river stages have been falling since it hit 34.4 feet on July 9. By Friday it had dropped to 31.3 feet.

The bridge construction project has been shut down since December, when it was discovered portions of the bedrock contained fissures or seams of mud rather than solid rock.

In May, the Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission awarded two construction contracts, totaling $29.5 million for the bridge and includes a $3.9 million to Nicholson Construction Co. of Bridgeville, Pa., to perform jet grouting work on bedrock at the Pier 3 site in the middle of the Mississippi River.

"We anticipate that the actual jet grouting work will start Wednesday of this week," said Hitt.

The original completion date for the grouting work was set for Oct. 1 but has been extended to Oct. 31 because of high waters, Hitt said.

The grouting work is needed before work can resume on building the main span. Hitt said there is no evidence of any fissure problems at the other pier sites.

MoDOT also awarded the substructure contract of the new bridge, to Massman Construction Co. of Kansas City. The $25.6 million contract calls for the substructure of the Illinois approach span for the new four-lane bridge.

The substructure also includes the bridge piers and steel girders that will provide support for the bridge deck.

The Massman contract is a two-year contract. The contract for the bridge deck work will be awarded during the fall of 1999.

A new contract for additional construction of the cable-stay bridge could be awarded soon. A pre-bid meeting will be held this week at the Osage Centre in Cape Girardeau.

"We're looking for completion of the main span of the bridge by July 1 of 2001," said Hitt. Final roadways will be tied into the bridge then, with "first traffic expected to cross the bridge on Jan. 1, 2002."

Pier 1 for the bridge, an abutment on the Missouri side of the river, has been completed, and Pier 2 in the river on the Missouri side is almost finished.

Pier 4, on the Illinois side of the river, will be partially in the river.

But, the pivotal pier is No. 3, the pier near the middle of the river. Piers 5 to 15 will be on the Illinois side.

All pier and girder work on the Illinois side should be completed by mid-2000.

Work on the Illinois approach span is not expected to cause any closings of the existing Mississippi River Bridge, but it could result in one-lane traffic, during concrete pours of piers.

Flatiron Structures, the first substructure contractor on the bridge, completed 18 percent of the bridge project. Flatiron's contract ended in December by mutual agreement of the contractor and the Department of Transportation, after fissures were discovered in the bedrock where Pier 3 was to be anchored.

FROM START TO FINISH

June 1987: Missouri approved the design location for a new four-lane bridge over the Mississippi River.

1993: Initial work starts on bridge construction, culverts at Interstate 55 interchange.

1994: Bridges over Cape LaCroix Creek.

1995: Grading paving from Route 61 to Sprigg Street.

1996: Grading, paving I-55 to Route 74 bridge at I-55/74 interchange, and pier work.

December 1997: Bridge construction project halted due to fissures in bedrock at site of river pier.

May 1998: Contracts awarded for jet grouting work and substructure of the Illinois approach span.

Fall 1999: Bid let for bridge deck work.

May 2000: Completion of all pier and girder work.

July 1, 2001: Completion of main span for Emerson Bridge expected.

Jan. 2, 2002: First traffic over Emerson Bridge expected.

Jan. 1, 2004: Contract for demolition of old bridge.