MODOT PLANS MORE REPAIRS TO MISSISSIPPI RIVER BRIDGE; BRIDGE DECK AND SUPERSTRUCTURE REPAIRS SET LATER

Repair work on the Mississippi River bridge at Cape Girardeau continues another day next week.

But expect additional repairs to be scheduled in the coming months.

"Really we are doing what is typical for a 70 year old bridge," said Scott Meyer, District 10 engineer with the Missouri Department of Transportation.

This week, work went slower than expected because of rain early in the week and an equipment breakdown Thursday.

Tuesday the bridge will be closed to one lane of traffic from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.

"There wasn't the urgency that someone was going to fall in," Meyer said. "We are making it so we don't have to do continual repairs.

"This is not a safety issue," Meyer said. "We are doing the things that need to be done to get through the next three or four years."

He said repairs on the four beams below the bridge deck will be repaired after Tuesday's closure.

The deck of the bridge and the superstructure above the bridge are likely to get repairs in the next few months.

The bridge is on a schedule of inspections every three months.

"We are looking at the proper way to maintain this bridge to keep those random repairs from coming up," Meyer said. "If there is something we can go ahead and do, let's do it now and deal with it."

For example, the asphalt coating on the bridge deck must be continually updated. "It's a maintenance headache," Meyer said.

Bridge repair crews work for MoDOT and are based out of Jefferson City.

When work first started to repair the cracked beam, the crews decided to repair all four beams, which were thin.

"We took a more long-range look at it," Meyer said. "We will continue to do analytical inspections."

In the meantime, work continues on the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge across the river at Cape Girardeau.

Jet grouting of fissures in bedrock at the bridge's base is progressing, Meyer said, as is work on the Illinois side of the bridge.