Work remains on bridge project

Saturday's Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge dedication may have felt like an ending, but the project's true completion will come in fall 2004.

Stan Johnson, area engineer for the Missouri Department of Transportation, said that's when he estimates the last piece of the old Mississippi River bridge will be hauled off. In the meantime, there's some detail work to be done on the new one.

The Federal Aviation Administration lighting on the tops of the towers is running on batteries, so electrical wiring has to be run up through the towers.

And while the street lights are operational, the aesthetic lighting done through government grants and local fund raising has to be adjusted and a control panel installed. Johnson said that should be done by February or March.

Workers have to continue painting the underside of the new bridge, and they'll move materials and equipment from the land underneath the bridge on both the Missouri and Illinois sides.

None of that should cause the total closure of the new bridge, Johnson said, although it could reduce traffic to one side.

The biggest project element remaining is the demolition of the old bridge. Johnson said the contract for that will be awarded sometime in the spring, with the demolition in June or July.

Some local residents have asked whether pieces of the old bridge will be available for keepsakes. Johnson said that will be up to the demolition contractor.

-- Heidi Hall