Mississippi reopens to traffic after bridge demolition

After being closed to barge and boat traffic for more than 48 hours due to debris, the Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau reopened around 1:20 p.m. Saturday.

Petty Officer Donald Taylor with the U.S. Coast Guard's Group Ohio Valley in Louisville, Ky., said river passage would be restricted at first to avoid too many barges trying to pass a four-mile stretch of river by Cape Girardeau at one time.

Taylor said between 20 and 30 vessels had been waiting for the river to open.

The river was scheduled to be closed for 24 hours after Thursday morning's demolition of the old bridge so that steel wreckage could be removed from the navigation channel.

As a contractor worked around the clock to clear the debris, the reopening time was pushed back twice on Friday. Officials said the river would reopen at 3 p.m. and later moved the time to 8 p.m. After 8 p.m., the Coast Guard said the reopening time was uncertain.

--Southeast Missourian