Rain delays last major concrete pour at Center Junction project

Rain on Wednesday, along with a forecast of ongoing precipitation through the weekend, has forced delay of the last major concrete pours at the Center Junction highway construction project until next week.

The project's general contractor, Penzel Construction of Jackson, had scheduled the work for Wednesday morning, but equipment delays pushed the start time back to Wednesday afternoon. By then, light rain was starting to fall, which canceled the concrete work at the interchange between Cape Girardeau and Jackson.

"You just can't take a chance on rain," said Howard Hemmann, Penzel's project manager, who said the delay shouldn't have a major impact on the project's overall timeline.

"It really just depends on the weather," he said. "But it's hard to say at this point."

Penzel's contract with the Missouri Department of Transportation calls for project completion by Nov. 1. "But I would like to get it done by Oct. 1," Hemmann said. "I think we still have a pretty good shot at doing that as long as we don't get a monsoon between now and then."

The $17.4 million project, which began in the spring of 2020, includes replacement of both northbound and southbound bridges of Interstate 55 over U.S. 61 and construction of a "diverging diamond" interchange below the bridges.

The new southbound bridge along the interstate was completed last fall. The northbound bridge is nearly complete, with the exception of parapets, or safety barrier walls, along the span. Both bridges are wide enough to accommodate three lanes of traffic, which will allow MoDOT to widen I-55 between Scott City and Fruitland at some point in the future.

Between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, construction crews switched traffic along U.S. 61 from the interchange's north lanes to the south lanes, clearing the way for completion of embankment walls and a barrier between the traffic lanes and a pedestrian walkway.

The parapet concrete pours have been subcontracted to Columbia Curb and Gutter out of Columbia, Missouri, and are now scheduled to take place Tuesday morning, weather permitting, Hemmann said.

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