WEATHER HAMPERS ROAD WORK

A cool, wet spring is delaying completion of some highway construction projects and the start of others in the area, the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department said.

According to the latest extended forecast, the situation isn't likely to improve this week. More rain is predicted through Friday.

There was some form of precipitation at Municipal Airport on at least 20 of the 31 days of March. On 16 March days the precipitation was over one-hundredth of an inch.

Bob Wilson, resident engineer with the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department at Sikeston, said Monday that the wet weather has delayed the Highway 25 relocation between Dutchtown and Blomeyer.

"Because of the wet weather, the contractor has been unable to start work on completing the shoulder on the west side of the new pavement," Wilson said. "The contractor cannot start work on the shoulder until the old highway pavement is removed. He's ready to start taking out the pavement if the weather will improve for a while."

Until that project is competed, Wilson said a 30 mph speed limit will remain on the new section of highway from Dutchtown to Blomeyer. The speed limit is for the protection of motorists, Wilson said. "If someone runs off the roadway right now, there's no shoulder, and it could result in a nasty accident."

Wilson said the wet weather has also delayed completion of the renovation of the Ramsey Creek bridge on Route M between Scott City and Chaffee.

"The contractor was able to finish the bridge and deck work in the eastbound lane during the winter, and now they're working on the westbound lane," Wilson said. "They were able to get a couple of days work in last week, on Thursday and Friday, and they'll be working again today (Monday), but if it starts raining again the work will have to stop."

"If the weather cooperates, we could have this bridge work completed by early May," he said. "Until then, we're asking motorists to be patient while they're waiting for the green light."

Because of one-way traffic over the bridge, motorists can expect up to a two- to three-minute delay20at the temporary traffic signals.

Wilson said the contractor is also ready to begin work on a bridge replacement along Route N near the intersection with Route D in Scott County, 10 miles northwest of Charleston.

"We have the construction signs up, but no work can be done until the ground dries out," said Wilson. "And right now it's completely saturated, so it may be some time before the work on the new bridge can begin."

The weather has also delayed the start of the spring and summer asphalt-paving and maintenance season, said Wilson.

"When we send a fleet of hot-mix asphalt trucks out from the plant, we don't like to risk them getting caught in rain and not being able to get the asphalt down. It only stays hot for a while," he said. "We need at least a week or more of warm, dry weather to do asphalt patching and paving."

The asphalt patching and paving season normally begins in early April and extends through the first of October, so plenty of time exists to get the scheduled work done by then, said Wilson.

"I'm meeting this week with the asphalt manufacturing plant in Cape to coordinate the opening of the plant," he said.

Among asphalt overlay projects now awaiting warmer weather is Highway 61 from Fruitland to the Perry County line.

Wilson said: "At this time of the year, contractors are like farmers: they're both foaming at the bit to get started. But with the cool, wet weather it's just not possible. This has been a problem spring for us. We've had drier springs when we were able to get a lot of work started in March. Until the weather pattern settles down, we're just going to have to take advantage of what nice days we do have ... and so far they have been far and few between the past 45 day."

During the first 12 days of this month there were only three days when it didn't rain at one time or another.

Al Robertson, climatologist and professor of geosciences at Southeast Missouri State University, said: "For the first 10 days of April, the average temperature is down 5.6 degrees from the long-term norm. If it hadn't been for the 71-degree and 81-degree temperatures on Saturday and Sunday, it would have been about 8 degrees below normal. Cool air does not hold very much moisture, so there has been very little evaporation of water from the saturated ground."

Robertson said the prolonged wet-weather pattern has been set up by the jet stream, which causes storm centers moving across the Midwest to slow down after crossing the Rocky Mountains. "At this time of the year these storm systems should be racing across our area at a much faster clip instead of taking four to five days to pass by," he said.