NEW BRIDGE SHOULD SURVIVE 'THE BIG ONE'

Once the new Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge is completed in 2003, local residents need not fear that a major earthquake will disrupt their trips across the Mississippi River.

Illinois will remain accessible to Southeast Missourians because the new bridge has been engineered with earthquakes in mind, say Missouri Department of Transportation designers.

"It should still be there after an 8.5," said area engineer Stan Johnson.

A magnitude 8.5 earthquake is capable of tremendous damage. The 1906 San Francisco earthquake, blamed for 700 deaths, was calcuateded as a 7.9-magnitude quake.

The bridge design is called cable-stay and features multiple cables of support, whereas a suspension bridge has one main cable of support.

The river bedrock upon which the bridge will rest has been strengthened with a jet-grouting process that took more than 18 months to complete. Holes were drilled in the bedrock, then flushed out with high-pressure water blasts, then reinforced with a cement grout.

The new bridge is expected to cost over $100 million.

MoDOT estimates that 14,000 vehicles cross the current Mississippi River bridge every day. By 2015, this volume is expected to increase to 26,000 vehicles daily. The current bridge was built in 1927.

MoDOT reports that the main span of the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge is currently about 20 percent complete. Remaining work includes finishing the pier system, and installing support cables, the roadway, and decorative lighting.

Bill Emerson was a U.S. Representative for the 8th Congressional District of Missouri. He died in June 1996.