MoDOT: Could take two years to replace road beneath Wappapello spillway

WAPPAPELLO LAKE, Mo. -- Water stopped flowing over Wappapello Lake's emergency spillway Wednesday, a day after members of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer and the Missouri Department of Transportation met to discuss reconstruction of Route T.

It could take two years or more before a permanent road replaces the portion of Route T damaged in front of the emergency spillway, according to MoDOT.

Traffic has been routed to the old Iron Bridge Road in the meantime. Work on other short-term measures is under way.

"The Corps is constructing a temporary road (at Blue Hole) to relieve some of the pressure on the county bypass road," said Wappapello Lake Operations Manager Cindy Jackson. "We are having ongoing discussions with the state and county about a temporary and a permanent fix for Highway T. It takes all of us."

The lake had fallen to 394.14 feet by 8 a.m., more than 6 inches below the top of the emergency spillway. It has dropped nearly 5.5 feet in the last week.

The overflow, at its height, reached 30,500 cubic feet per second, applying nearly 1.9 million pounds of pressure per second to the ground immediately below the spillway.

The force carved away about 400 feet of Route T, 250 feet of the lower Blue Hole Road, 150 feet of an access road to Redman Creek Recreation Area and sections of earth up to 50 feet deep in front of the 740-foot concrete spillway.

"Depending on what we do and how we do it, this is going to take time," Jackson said.

Public meetings will be held by the Corps to keep people informed. Dates have been set, but locations are still to be determined. Two will be held May 24 in the Wappapello Lake area, to begin at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. Another meeting is set for May 26 in the Greenville area.

Work began Wednesday on the road in the Blue Hole area below the emergency spillway.

Crews work Wednesday, May 11, 2011, to create a temporary road below Wappapello Lake's emergency spillway (background), which officials hope will alleviate some traffic congestion on the old Iron Bridge Road. The bulldozer provides a size perspective on the amount of land scoured out by the water. (By Paul Davis/Daily American Republic)

This temporary access point will be a corps road and it will have limitations, Jackson said. Those will be set once it is determined what standards the Blue Hole road meets.

This is a short term solution while the parties involved discuss the permanent fix for Route T, said MoDOT Engineer Lindell Huskey.

"We are still in the very, very early stages," he said. "MoDOT maintains (this section) of Highway T, but it does not own the property. Whatever happens will have to be determined by a partnership."

The land is owned by the corps.

Gov. Jay Nixon and members of the corps mentioned early after Route T was destroyed that the new road might change to prevent damage should water top the emergency spillway again.

"Bridges cost a lot of money," Jackson said. "For that reason, (MoDOT) will probably stay in line with what was there. … Our ultimate goal now is to get through the summer recreation period, when traffic is the heaviest."

Money is an issue for everyone, Huskey said.

Jackson urged travelers to use caution while traffic continues to be routed through Iron Bridge Road.

"The counties are doing a good job of maintaining it, but people are driving too fast," she said, adding the road is narrow and not paved.

Jackson believes the land cut away between the spillway and the highway may be left as it is, with the addition of a trail.

"That is still a decision to be made, but it is part of the interpretive story to tell," she said.

Members of the corps are working from temporary sites at the Bill Emerson Memorial Visitors' Center and Redman Creek Picnic Area 1. They could remain there as much as a month. Phone, internet and sewer service were cut off at the main office when the infrastructure below Route T was lost.

Pertinent address:

Wappapello Lake, MO