EMERSON BRIDGE WORK IS BIG STEP FOR HIGHWAY TRANSPORTATION

It won't be long before the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge across the Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau begins to take shape now that a footing for one of its massive concrete towers has been poured.

The contractor, Flatiron Structures Inc., this month carried out one of the largest concrete pours for a single structure in the history of the Missouri Department of Transportation when it built the footing for what is known as Pier 2 on the Missouri side of the river.20The footing, which measures 60-by-100-by-12 feet, took more than 10.4 million pounds of concrete. That's approximately 380 truck loads. More than 550,000 pounds of reinforcing steel went into it.

The pour is significant because, with the footing in place, the tower will begin to rise above water as more forms are built and concrete poured. It also is important because it will put the worksite above water, allowing work to progress should the Mississippi go on the rise, as is always a possibility through the summer months.

The bridge is part of a cross-city relocation of Highway 74. When finished, it will provide four lanes from Interstate 55 to Illinois Route 3, a portion of which is being relocated to provide the Illinois bridge approach.

The highway through Cape Girardeau is open from Kingshighway to South Sprigg. The overpass for the Interstate 55-Highway 74 interchange is nearing completion, and work on building the stretch between I-55 and Kingshighway will begin soon. By fall motorists will be able to drive on the new Highway 74 from the interstate to Sprigg. Then all that remains unfinished will be the bridge and the approaches. Motorists can look forward to its completion by 2002.

The entire project, which will cost nearly $90 million, will help carry traffic, particularly trucks, through Cape Girardeau with ease. It will alleviate much of the through traffic that uses William Street, South Sprigg and Morgan Oak, which leads to the existing bridge. And the bridge will provide a safer, faster route for the many Illinoisans who travel to the Cape Girardeau area daily to work.

Planning for the project began years ago, and construction is taking years to accomplish. But the project will be one worth waiting years to get.