MoDOT shows Route W bridge plans

ORAN, Mo. -- Route W between Oran and Painton, Mo., is straight and fairly smooth as it passes wheat fields maturing from bright green to rich gold.

But since March 18, when heavy rains spawned powerful floods, motorists have been warned off a stretch of the two-lane highway between Route P and County Road 277. A 56-foot bridge over Ditch 35 was knocked off its pilings by the rushing water and is too dangerous to use. Motorists must make a 3.9-mile detour that includes dusty gravel roads and blind curves; extra-wide traffic, including many farm machines, must take an even longer route because parts of the detour are too narrow for the vehicles and oncoming traffic.

At the Oran Elementary School on Thursday, officials from the Missouri Department of Transportation set up easels showing plans for a replacement bridge, expected to cost about $250,000. The plans are undergoing a final review in Jefferson City, with construction bids due at the end of the month.

If all goes well, a contract will be awarded in early July and the new bridge will be in place by Sept. 1, said Jeff Wachter, a transportation project designer for the MoDOT District 10 office in Sikeston.

The meeting drew few people, but project manager Andy Meyer said residents and landowners along the road have been briefed on the plans and fliers about the meeting were distributed in Oran, Painton and Perkins, Mo.

The bridge, originally installed in 1951, was constructed with heavy wood beams as pilings. Over the years, as the wood rotted, MoDOT used a method of splicing steel supports to the wood with concrete.

During the flood, rushing water undermined a support at the center of the bridge and, as debris piled against the structure, washed away other beams used to hold the bank in place.

Repairs could not make the bridge safe, Wachter said, so the road has remained closed.

A pile of dirt and rock has been placed across the road at the east end of the bridge to keep motorists from using it, Meyer said. "People were moving the barricades and driving across," he said. "The center piers are not on anything that would carry a load."

The new bridge will be a span using precast beams and a prestressed concrete slab to eliminate center supports, reducing the chances debris could pile up at the bridge in a future storm, Wachter said.

One of the few people who stopped at the school to view the plans, Glenn Nothdurft, said he'll be happy when the bridge is replaced. Nothdurft farms about 425 acres between Route W and County Road 268. "It is a very important road for us," he said. "A lot of commercial traffic uses W."

The design looks good, Nothdurft said, and he said he appreciates that MoDOT is working as quickly as it can to put a new bridge in place. "I'm glad they are getting it done in an expeditious manner," he said.

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126