MoDOT prepares for opening bids on Route M overpass

ROCKVIEW, Mo. -- Plans to replace an overpass in Scott County destroyed in a train crash could be ready for contractors to review before bidding in less than two weeks.

The Missouri Department of Transportation is moving quickly to build a new Route M overpass in Scott County. MoDOT officials said they plan to finish a new bridge by early September to replace the one that collapsed last month after the collision of a Union Pacific and a Burlington Northern Santa Fe train. Consultants hired to design the bridge are working through the process, but should present plans soon, said MoDOT assistant district engineer Matt Seiler.

"We've asked the consultant to put the plans up by June 18 so interested contractors will have time to look at them and come up with estimates to submit their bids on June 28," he said.

Seiler said plans will be advertised on the MoDOT website for about a week for interested contractors to review before bidding. Typically, that process would last two to three weeks. Because this is considered an emergency situation, he said the time was shortened.

In emergency cases, Seiler said MoDOT expedites the process of awarding the contract as well. After contractors send in their bids June 28, the MoDOT bridge department will select and award the contract by the 29th or 30th.

"The staff will review the bids and make the selection themselves," said Seiler. "Typically, we would take this information to the Highway Commission and they would make the final selection at their next meeting, but that would be about a week-and-a-half long delay and we want to get this going as soon as possible."

Seiler said they also would give the selected contractor "early notice to proceed" to begin construction "almost instantly" after the contract is awarded.

"We've already gotten interest from a lot of contractors, some local and some from out of the area," Seiler said. "So it looks like we'll have a good selection of contractors bidding."

MoDOT engineers have estimated the cost of a new overpass will be about $3 million.

In addition to stopping automobile traffic, the overpass collapse also temporarily halted train traffic in the area. Union Pacific reopened its railroad line less than three days after the accident, according to Mark Davis, the company's director of corporate relations and media. He said about 600 feet of track were replaced to get trains moving again.

Union Pacific also is making repairs to its rail line that runs from Chester, Ill., to Scott City, just short of the Rockview area where the derailment occurred. Davis said the work is routine.

"It's part of our annual track improvement process we do each year," he said. "We replace railroad ties and rails and renew surfaces at 62 road crossings, which is what the public will probably notice the most."

Burlington Northern Santa Fe anticipated work on its damaged line to be finished by Wednesday, but spokesman Andy Williams said the company still is rerouting trains away from the area.

"We're continuing to reroute trains like we have been on a Union Pacific track in Illinois because the track that runs from St. Louis to Rockview is out of service due to flooding," he said.

Williams said the trains would again run on the line after the flooding recedes.

srinehart@semissourian.com

388-3641

Pertinent address:

Rockview, MO