GEPHARDT LENDS SUPPORT FOR CAPE BRIDGE FUNDING

House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt is backing efforts to secure federal funding for the new Mississippi River bridges at Cape Girardeau and Hannibal.

"It enhances the chances of getting funding," said Walter Vandelicht, assistant chief engineer of the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department.

"I think it is very important since he is from Missouri that he supports this project," Vandelicht said Thursday.

In a Feb. 7 letter to Transportation Secretary Federico Pena, Gephardt pushed for federal disaster funding for the Hannibal and Cape Girardeau bridge projects.

Gephardt said inspections show that both bridges were damaged by last year's flooding.

He wrote that the state highway department had examined both bridges and found that they "experienced serious damage as a result of the high velocity of river flow during the peak of the Mississippi flooding.

"In particular, the floods caused extensive scour around the central main-span piers of both bridges. These piers provide the only support for the main-span for each bridge and cannot be easily replaced," said Gephardt.

"The scour at the Hannibal bridge is within 10 feet of exposing the timber piles placed in the river bed 70 years ago. At the Cape Girardeau bridge, the scour is within four feet of exposing the bedrock, which is of unknown integrity and which bears the entire bridge load," the Missouri Democrat wrote.

The Missouri Highway and Transportation Department has submitted requests for emergency assistance totaling about $100 million.

"As funds become available or in the event that the (Clinton) administration considers requesting additional funds in the disaster package, I request that you support the funding necessary to proceed with these projects," the congressman said in his letter to the secretary of transportation.

Vandelicht said there's concern about the existing Cape Girardeau bridge, not only in terms of the piers, but also in the event of a major earthquake along the New Madrid Fault. The existing span is not designed to withstand a major earthquake.

But he stressed that the bridge isn't on the verge of collapsing. "It's not critical at this point, but the bridge needs to be replaced," he said.

U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson, R-Cape Girardeau, welcomed Gephardt's support of the Cape Girardeau bridge project.

"I'm pleased that Congressman Gephardt, the House majority leader, has lent his support to rebuilding this bridge, which has such a major impact, not only on our transportation system, but on our commercial activities as well."

Emerson has been pushing for Congress to include replacement of the 66-year-old bridge in upcoming federal highway legislation.

He wants the new bridge to be funded as a demonstration project in the National Highway System authorization legislation.

The project is estimated to cost $85.6 million, with the bridge structure itself costing $69.2 million.

Emerson has requested federal funding of $55.36 million to cover the 80 percent federal share of the Cape Girardeau bridge project.

The remainder of the cost would come from Missouri and Illinois, Vandelicht said.

The bridge project has been on the drawing board for a number of years and work is already under way to clear a path through the southern part of Cape Girardeau for a limited-access highway that will connect the new span to Interstate 55.

Missouri has set aside state funding for approach work and bridge construction, but Illinois has so far declined to commit state funds to the project.

The Illinois Department of Transportation contends that such bridges should be built primarily with federal highway funds.

Vandelicht said the effort of Gephardt and others to secure emergency funding for the Cape Girardeau and Hannibal bridges is just one avenue being explored.

"That is one avenue to get funds. Another avenue to get funds would be through the National Highway System bill," he said.

Vandelicht said Missouri highway officials are "cautiously optimistic" of securing federal funding for the bridge projects. But obtaining the needed funding, he said, could take some time.

"It could possibly be the end of the year before they (Congress) take action on the National Highway System bill," he said.