Scott County overpass taken out by train reopens

ROCKVIEW, Mo. -- "Unbelievable" is the word Scott County Commissioner Donnie Kiefer used to describe the reconstruction of the Route M overpass in Rockview, which opened at 11:15 a.m. Friday -- three months after the train collision that resulted in its predecessor's collapse.

"To get this thing cleaned up and built in such a short amount of time is unbelievable," said Kiefer, who lives less than three miles from the site.

The overpass collapsed about 2:30 a.m. May 25 after a Union Pacific train struck a Burlington Northern Santa Fe train, derailing several rail cars and knocking down one of the bridge's support pillars.

MoDOT officials said the bridge would open to traffic at noon Friday. But, as with the entire project, things ran ahead of schedule, and crews finished the cleanup early, allowing cars to drive across the new three-span bridge.

While the new bridge is mostly similar to the old one, MoDOT district construction and materials manager Andy Meyer said there are differences.

A train passes under the newly opened Route M overpass Friday, Aug. 30,near Rockview, Mo., in Scott County. The 300-foot bridge opened to traffic just after 11 a.m. Friday, three months after the old bridge was destroyed in a train collision. (Adam Vogler)

"The old bridge was a five-span; this one is a three-span with longer beams and bigger, more robust piers," Meyer said. He said the new bridge is higher, to allow for more clearance from the trains passing below.

MoDOT project manager Eric Krapf said the bridge also will allow for future expansion.

"If the railroad would ever decide to expand this set of track, there are now options allowing for that due to the design and the use of three spans, rather than five like before," Krapf said.

MoDOT accepted the winning project bid of $2,319,363 for the emergency bridge replacement on July 1. Goodwin Brothers Construction Co. began construction immediately, and the deck was completed Aug. 18.

"We definitely feel like we got a good buy on this project with the time we allotted and the amount of work that needed done." said Meyer. "To get this big of a job completed in 60 days is a big deal."

But recovering the cost could take time, Meyer said.

A preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board in June said the Union Pacific train may have run through a stop signal. The agency is still investigating the accident to determine the cause, and a final report could take up to a year.

"We could recover costs from the responsible party if fault is found in the investigation," he said.

Meyer said the previous overpass was inspected annually and was in great shape.

Scott County Presiding Commissioner Jamie Burger said work can begin on county roads affected by the bridge construction.

"County Road 209 took a big toll with the detour through Rockview. A road that normally carried 50 to 80 cars per day was carrying approximately 2,700 per day by our traffic counter," Burger said.

The county received funds from Union Pacific to repair the outlying roads. Burger said the county was awaiting the opening of the overpass before starting that work.

Construction crews will be on site for a couple more weeks finishing drainage and cleanup work, but other projects will begin in the affected area.

Burger said Burlington Northern will replace the railroad crossing at Rockview next week, then the county will begin pavement work in the area.

skluesner@semissourian.com

388-3648

Pertinent address:

Rockview, MO