Cairo bridge will close until early Nov.

Farmers will have to haul grain 25 miles out of the way.

WYATT, Mo. -- Farmers in Mississippi County will face a new challenge in getting their grain to market this harvest season.

Just as the fall harvest kicks into full gear, one of the primary routes farmers from the Wyatt area take to haul their grain to market will be shut down, detouring them up to an extra 25 miles out of the way.

Early Monday morning the bridge over the Mississippi River on Highway 60/62 from Bird's Point, Mo., to Cairo, Ill., will close and remain closed until early November.

Elott Raffety, who farms near Wyatt, is one of the farmers who could be affected by the closure. Raffety hauls his crops to Cairo and Mound City, Ill., where they can be loaded and shipped on the river. With the bridge out of commission, Raffety and other farmers will have to haul crops over the bridge on Interstate 57 and through Cairo instead of the more direct Highway 60/62 route.

Farm equipment like combines and grain haulers will have to take the Interstate route.

Raffety has an advantage over some farmers. He can store his grain in his own elevators while he waits to haul it. Some of his neighbors aren't so lucky.

"In Wyatt, it's all farmland," said Raffety. "All the grain in this area goes to the river."

The closure will also affect shipping to and from MeadWestvaco, an international packaging company.

The work on the bridge is regular upkeep, said Joe Lenzini with the Illinois Department of Transportation. Joints will be replaced on the bridge deck, including the riding surface, and reinforcements will be made on the truss connections, extending the life of the 76-year-old bridge.

The last major work was done on the bridge in 1983, when the concrete deck was replaced. The nearly 5,200-foot-long span carries about 4,500 motorists each day.

Massman Construction Co., from Kansas City, Mo., will handle the repair work at a cost of $969,224. IDOT is splitting the cost with the Missouri Department of Transportation.

Motorists will be detoured on Missouri Highway 77 to Interstate 57, where they can then enter Cairo on Highway 51. The detour distance from one end of the bridge to the other is 25 miles, said Lenzini.

Lenzini said IDOT tried to schedule the closure before the peak harvest time, which will occur in November. The bridge's planned re-opening is Nov. 2.

msanders@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182