I-57 BRIDGE WORK TO BEGIN, OTHER 20 PROJECTS SCHEDULED

CAIRO, Ill. -- Pins and link plates will be replaced on the Interstate 57 bridge over the Mississippi River between Alexander County in Southern Illinois and Mississippi County in Southeast Missouri.

Bids for the bridge work were among those received this month on 73 highway and bridge improvements projects totaling more than $53 million throughout Illinois.

The $500,000 bridge project, awarded to Springfield, Ill., contractor, Halverson Construction Co. Inc. this week, will get under way later this summer.

"We'll meet with contractors Thursday," said Jerry Mount, a field engineer with the Illinois Department of Transportation. "We'll know more about the timetable then."

The project is expected to take 120 working days. During that time, traffic will be limited to one-lane for each direction.

The traffic shouldn't be a big problem during the construction. "We're looking at about 9,600 vehicles a day over the bridge," said Comer Phillips, a resident engineer with IDOT.

Traffic has been limited to one-lane on the 22-year-old bridge in the past when it was resurfaced. No serious problems were encountered.

Also included in the latest bids were those for maintenance on five overpass bridges along I-57 in Williamson, Johnson and Saline counties.

"Some of these projects also call for pin and link replacements," said Phillips. That contract, for $168,000, has been awarded to Workman Stallwalt Co. of Effingham, Ill.

There is a difference in pins and link plates for the interstate overpass bridges and the Mississippi River bridge. Phillips said the river bridge pins and plates were much larger that those for the overpasses.

The river bridge pins will be about 4 inches in diameter. The overpass pins are about 2 1/2 to 2 3/4 inches in diameter.

A number of other Southern Illinois projects were included in the most recent bids announced by the Illinois Department of Transportation.

They include:

-- Jackson County -- Bridge repair, including replacement of expansion joints, deck slab repair, and new deck drains on two bridges east of Carbondale, Ill., on Route 13 over Crab Orchard Creek and Crab Orchard Creek Overflow. E.T. Simonds Construction Co., Carbondale, has the $344,440 contract.

-- Johnson County -- Removal of an existing structure and replacement with single barrel concrete box culvert on U.S. Route 45 over an abandoned railroad north of Bloomfield. George Jones Excavating, L.L.C. of Marion has the $314,993 contract.

-- Williamson County -- Illinois Route 148 and Herrin Street improvements in Herrin, including upgrading of existing traffic signals. E. T. Simonds Co. has the $99,696 contract. Also, new turn lanes at the intersection of Illinois Route 13 and 166 near the east limits at Marion. E.T. Simonds has the $116,855 contract.