MODOT UNVEILS WEB SITE; INTERNET SITE WORTH ITS WEIGHT IN WRESTLERS

How many professional wrestlers does it take to equal the weight of the concrete in the new Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge?

The answer is 902,550 wrestlers, according to the calculations of the expert staff at the Missouri Department of Transportation regional office in Sikeston, Mo.

The calculation is just one of many in MoDOT's list of "fun facts" about the new Mississippi River bridge taking shape in Cape Girardeau. Geared for children, the "fun facts" are part of a new Web site for MoDOT's Southeast District.

The on-line service started in mid-January, but MoDOT only began promoting it this week. The Internet address is www.modot.state.mo.us/local/d10/d10.html.

The Web site features more than "fun facts." There's a whole section on the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge, including the history of the project, updates on the progress of construction, a gallery of construction photos and a "bridgecam" that provides a photo of the bridge construction automatically updated every 15 minutes.

MoDOT partnered with Show-Me Net, a non-profit community information network, to host the bridgecam.

"Once construction becomes highly visible, this is really going to be a great feature of the site," said District Engineer Scott Meyer. "The position of the camera will show the new bridge taking shape next to the existing bridge."

The $100 million bridge isn't the only topic on the Web site.

Those who click on the site can view a county-by-county breakdown of road construction, work zones and possible delays. There also is information and timelines on major projects in Southeast Missouri, news releases and MoDOT employment opportunities.

The site also includes a section where motorists can report potholes that need repair and road right of ways that need to be mowed.

Internet users who click on the "Let's Talk" icon can post a message on transportation issues and respond to others on the on-line bulletin board. Those who visit the Web site also can sign up to receive e-mail updates about transportation projects in the region.

But it's the "fun facts" complete with cartoon-type drawings that MoDOT staff member Angie Wilson expects will draw the attention of children and "young at heart" adults.

"We wanted to do something a little bit different and even gear it for kids," said Wilson, public affairs manager for MoDOT's district office in Sikeston.

The Southeast District is only the third MoDOT district in the state with such a detailed Web site and the only one with a "fun facts" section, Wilson said.

Wilson said her office gleaned information from MoDOT employees' children as to what food items and activities interested them.

That led Wilson and her co-workers to decide on describing the new bridge in terms of professional wrestlers, elephants, skateboards, ice cream, pizzas, football fields, soccer balls and Volkswagen Beetles.

"The kids seem to think that the Bugs are fun," said Wilson.

MoDOT staffers even went so far as to weight a gallon of ice cream so they could calculate that 15 million pounds of bridge beams would equal more than 3.15 million gallons of ice cream.

Wilson said the public affairs staff didn't depend entirely on its own math skills. "We had one of the engineers check over the math."