Crews dismantle bridge to prepare for blasting

Drivers traveling the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge lately might have noticed traffic is picking up on the old Mississippi River bridge several hundred feet up river. But no one on the 76-year-old bridge these days is just trying to get across.

The dismantling of the old bridge started about three or four weeks ago with the removal of the road deck and the curbing at the edge of the deck on the Illinois side of the bridge, said senior construction inspector Rick Lamb with the Missouri Department of Transportation.

The crews, which range in size from seven to 10 workers, are removing the decking with a small backhoe that has a jackhammer-type attachment, then using a front-end loader to pick up the debris. Lamb said the decking comes off fairly easily because of a steel grid located underneath.

Similar work, such as removing railings and cutting holes in the concrete, will continue for several weeks to prepare for blasting parts of the bridge with explosives.

"Until we get all our plans approved with various agencies, we won't do any blasting," Lamb said. "It'll be August before anything happens."

No part of the bridge is allowed to be dropped into the Mississippi River before Aug. 1 because of federal regulations in the project permit issued by the U.S. Coast Guard, which regulates work along the river.

The regulations are intended to protect the endangered pallid sturgeon, which is thought to live near the bridge and whose breeding season ends in the beginning of the summer.

Blasting work will be done in sections starting on the Illinois side of the bridge and finishing on the Missouri side. There will be barges and cranes on site to retrieve pieces of the bridge once they fall into the river.

Lamb said the blasting work will take about two or three months to complete, mostly because the cleanup process takes up a good deal of time.

In addition to the cleanup work, crews will plant trees along the Illinois shore to replace trees that were removed in order for the Emerson Bridge to be built.

The cost of dismantling of the 76-year-old bridge is nearly $2.23 million.

kalfisi@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182