MODOT AWARDS BRIDGE CONTRACTS

The Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission awarded two construction contracts Friday totaling $29.5 million for the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge.

The commission's action sets the stage for construction work to resume in May on the new, four-lane bridge at Cape Girardeau.

At its meeting in Jefferson City, the commission hired Massman Construction Co. of Kansas City to build the substructure of the Illinois approach span for the new bridge at Cape Girardeau.

The substructure includes the bridge piers and steel girders that will provide support for the bridge deck. That section will begin on the Illinois side and extend out into the river, Missouri highway officials said.

The bridge deck itself and concrete paving project will be awarded in a separate contract in late 1999.

Massman submitted the low bid of $25.6 million. Massman was among four contractors that bid on the project. The high bid was $30.3 million, from an Evansville, Ind., firm.

The work is scheduled to begin in May and take about two years to complete, said the Missouri Department of Transportation's Scott Meyer.

Meyer is the district engineer for the department's regional office in Sikeston. He attended Friday's commission meeting.

The commissioners hired Nicholson Construction Co. of Bridgeville, Pa., to perform jet grouting work on bedrock at the pier site in the middle of the Mississippi River.

The work will cost nearly $3.9 million. Nicholson was the low bidder among four contractors. The highest bid was nearly $6 million, from a Massachusetts company.

The construction project was halted last December after it was discovered that portions of the bedrock contained fissures or seams of mud rather than solid rock.

The problem first surfaced last summer.

"The jet grouting technique is very similar to the process a dentist uses to fill a cavity," said Randy Hitt, area engineer for the Missouri Department of Transportation.

"A water jet is used to clean out the mud seams and any loose rock. The fissures are then filled with a high-strength cement grout mixture," Hitt said.

The work is scheduled to begin in May and take four months to complete. But the work could be delayed by high water, Meyer said.

Hitt said there is no evidence of any fissure problems at the other pier sites.

The grouting work is needed before work can resume on building the main span, he said.

A new contract for construction of the cable-stay bridge could be awarded in October, with work on that span resuming in December.

The bridge should be completed by 2002, highway officials said.

Meyer said the commission's action Friday is good news. "It is an exciting time," he said.

Meyer said he doesn't expect work on the Illinois approach span will cause any closing of lanes or other traffic problems on the existing Mississippi River Bridge.

Bridge Facts

Location: Three blocks south of the existing bridge on the Missouri side of the Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau. On the Illinois side, it will be very near the existing bridge site.

Cost: $90 million. Federal funds will pay 80 percent. Missouri and Illinois are paying the other 20 percent.

Design: The structure will be supported by a total of 15 piers. The first four piers, from the Missouri side, support most of the structure. This 1,150-foot-long main span crosses the navigational channel of the river. The span will include suspension cables for added strength.

Width: At about 100 feet wide, the bridge will be nearly five times as wide as the current bridge. The bridge will have four lanes and shoulders.

Length: The new bridge will be nearly 4,000 feet long, the length of 13 football fields.

Height: Driving lanes on the bridge deck will be 60 feet above the river. The suspension cables will be attached to towers that rise to 300 feet above the river.

Lighting: The new bridge will be lit with 140 lights.