BRIDGE WORK TO RESUME; FISSURE PROBLEM WILL BE SOLVED, SAY OFFICIALS

Representatives of Missouri's Department of Transportation and the company that designed the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge were here Friday to quell rumors about the bridge's design and safety.

They met with local governmental officials to answer questions and offer information. Another meeting will be held Monday to answer questions of the public, especially concerning the process that will be used to fill fissures in the river's bedrock.

The open-house meeting will be held from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce office. Displays will be available along with personnel from the transportation department and HNTB Companies, which designed the bridge.

"We want to be sure there is no shadow over what is being done," said Scott Meyer, department district engineer. "The work that we've done is good, and what we are planning is responsible and proper."

However, Meyer said the department is concerned that the fissures, a common occurrence in limestone, weren't anticipated by the design company.

"HNTB has been placed on notice," said Meyer. "We will investigate what the practices were and what they should have been. As keepers of the public money we will pursue this, legally if necessary."

Rumors about the status of the Cape Girardeau Mississippi River bridge, its design and safety have been flying since the construction contract with Flatiron Structures Co., LLC, was dissolved in December. When the bridge was being designed, two core samples were drilled to determine what type of rock structure lay beneath the river. Both samples showed solid limestone.

However, when Flatiron dug a hole to begin construction of pier 3 in the middle of the river it discovered fissures in the rock filled with mud and clay. Work stopped and the design company came back and did another 23 borings to map out what was under the river at pier 3. Additional borings were also done at the other piers headed into Illinois. No evidence of fissures have been found at any other pier location.

Using the new information, the transportation department and design firm have come up with a solution called jet grouting.

Steve Hague, HNTB project manager, explained that the process is similar to a dentist filling a cavity in a tooth: Water and air will be used to wash clay and dirt from the rock fissures, and then concrete grout will be injected into the fissures to strengthen the rock.

Hague said 186 fillings are planned. The process will add $4 million to the project.

The jet grouting process was developed in Europe and has been used in the United States for about 15 years, Hague said. HNTB is using jet grouting on a large tunnel in Boston.

After the fissures are filled, the rest of the bridge design will continue as planned.

Hague said the fissures wouldn't have posed a problem for normal traffic on the bridge or if the bridge was being built elsewhere in the state. However, the bridge at Cape Girardeau is being built to withstand an earthquake of the magnitude of the 1812 quake at New Madrid.

The problem with the rock fissures has set the construction project back about a year. Meyer said money for the bridge is obligated, and therefore can't be spent on another project.

In March a contract is to be let for the jet grouting, and in May the jet grouting work should begin along with work on the Illinois approach span.

The bridge is anticipated for completion in 2002.

The contract with Flatiron Structures was dissolved over a question of money. The company and the transportation department couldn't reach agreement on how the expanded scope of the project, which now includes the jet grouting, would be billed, Meyer explained.

He said no problems exist with the work that has been completed.

Meyer said $18 million has been paid to Flatiron for 18 percent of the project that was completed. Part of that money is for materials like steel girders that have been produced for construction.

Meyer said that after the main contract was dissolved, the department took over contracts with Flatiron's subcontractors. Some completed work under way. Other contracts were canceled.

HNTB was founded in 1914, and has designed more than 5,000 bridges around the world. The company designed the existing Cape Girardeau bridge at Cape Girardeau in 1927.