STATE, BRIDGE CONTRACTORS END DEAL

The builder of the new Mississippi River bridge is pulling out of the project with the blessing of the Missouri Department of Transportation.

Both parties agreed to terminate the $50.8 million contract because of bedrock problems under a pier being built in the river, it was announced Friday afternoon.

The termination followed discussions between the contractor -- Flatiron Structures Co., of Longmont, Colo. -- and MoDOT officials over how to correct the problem.

MoDOT's District Engineer Scott Meyer of the Sikeston office and Randy Hitt, the agency's area engineer in Jackson, visited the construction site late Friday afternoon to talk to reporters.

Meyer and Hitt said the bridge project would be rebid and the rock problem addressed so the span can be completed.

The moves likely will push back the construction schedule by about a year. The new timetable calls for completion of the bridge in 2002, they said.

The state's top highway official, Chief Engineer Joe Mickes, agreed to terminate the contract, with the approval of the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission.

Hitt said Flatiron has completed about 25 percent of the project, amounting to about $12.7 million. The contractor won't be paid the remaining 75 percent of the contract or about $38 million, Hitt said.

Construction on the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge began in September 1996. Hitt said the bedrock problem was discovered last July, about 10 months after start of construction.

Earlier test borings in the river had not turned up the problem, Meyer and Hitt said.

Those borings were conducted as part of the bridge design work, they said. HNTB Corp. of Kansas City designed the cable-stay bridge.

Meyer said the highway department is reviewing the matter to see if the rock problem should have been detected by the bridge designer.

Ron Davis, Flatiron's general superintendent at the construction site, said his company thought it would be building a concrete pier on solid rock in the middle of the river.

But borings taken this summer showed problems in the bedrock.

Meyer said, "The rock we found out there had some mud seams in it. It was not a solid rock mass."

Hitt said the problem is in a rock area, measuring about 60-by-100 feet.

Davis estimated that the less-than-solid rock extends about 50 feet beneath the river bottom. "It is a huge problem," he said.

Without a solid foundation, any bridge pier constructed on that site could settle, he said.

MoDOT has decided to use jet grouting to solve the problem. The process involves removing the mud and replacing it with a cement-like material.

Meyer said the state would seek bids for the jet grouting work. The procedure has been used in other areas of the nation, but highway officials said they don't believe it has been done in Missouri.

Meyer said the state hopes to let bids for the rock work in March. The actual work could begin in May.

State highway officials also will move ahead in early 1998 with plans to rebid the remaining bridge work. Meyer hopes a new contractor could be in position to start work by late summer or early fall.

Flatiron officials said the company has built a number of big bridges and the Mississippi River bridge project wasn't out of its league.

MoDOT officials agreed that Flatiron is a reputable firm.

Bob French, Flatiron's executive vice president in Colorado, said both state highway officials and the company agreed on how to address the bedrock problem.

But French said there was an issue regarding the scheduling of the added work. "It is just the timing and when that can happen."

French said Flatiron would have had to hire a subcontractor to perform the highly specialized job.

In the end, French said both the state and the company decided it was best to terminate the construction contract.

"We are leaving on fine terms. There is no animosity between MoDOT and ourselves at all," he said. "It is a proper business decision."

The company said it expects to begin removing its tower crane and other equipment next week.

Flatiron will relocate the dozen on-site construction staff it has on the bridge project, French said. The unionized crew of construction workers will have to look for other work.

But those workers likely could be hired by the new contractor to finish the bridge work, French said.

Both U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson and Cape Girardeau Mayor Al Spradling voiced disappointment over the delay.

The new bridge is named after Emerson's late husband, Bill, who was a longtime congressman for Southeast Missouri.

Emerson said the delay won't undercut federal funding for the project.

Spradling said the delay would push back the city's schedule for extending Lorimier Street to the new bridge route.