WORK TO BEGIN ON NEW BRIDGE

Construction of Cape Girardeau's new Mississippi River bridge is slated to start today. But the initial work won't make a big splash.

A coffer dam will be built, which will allow work to proceed on construction of the first of two bridge piers.

"It is going to look like it is slow moving because it is down in the hole," said Matt Girard, project manager for the contractor, FlatIron Structures Co. of Longmont, Colo.

The Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge will be supported by steel cables tied into the piers. The bridge is named for the late congressman who played a major role in securing federal funding for the project.

The main part of the bridge will have three spans. The center span between the twin towers will extend 1,150 feet. Each of the outside spans will be 468 feet.

Work will begin on the sandy, driftwood-strewn Missouri shore just north of Missouri Dry Dock & Repair Co.

The low level of the Mississippi River is good news to Girard. "Due to the water being so low, that first pier is actually on the beach right now. When the water is higher that pier should be surrounded by water," he said.

But Girard said a coffer dam or temporary steel wall still will have to be built to hold back water and soil and allow for excavation for construction of the concrete pier.

"We have to go down to bedrock and put the foundation on solid ground," he said. "Even though we are on the beach and it is dry, once you start digging and get below the elevation of the river the groundwater will seep in."

Girard said initial construction will involve about five or six workers and heavy equipment. The entire project will require a lot of heavy equipment, including a huge barge and tower cranes. Some 50 to 75 people will be employed at the height of construction.

The construction work shouldn't create any major traffic problems on nearby Aquamsi Street, said the Missouri Department of Transportation's Allen Friedrich.

Construction of the $50.8 million bridge should be completed by the summer of 1999. But motorists still won't be able to drive across until all the approach work is done. The cable-supported bridge will span the river but not the swampland along the Illinois side. That will be spanned with the bridge approach.

The entire project, including approaching roadways, will cost about $90 million and could be completed late in the year 2000.

"It depends a lot on the water and the river stages," Friedrich said. Construction work likely would be halted during flood stages. "I don't think low water will hurt us."

Friedrich said the work shouldn't cause any major problems for barge traffic.