Bridge work continues toward Aug. 12 finish

In their own highwire act, crews walk on secured chainlink fence as they move around the tight spaces on the upper support beams of the U.S. 54/63 bridge. The middle section was the first to be enclosed for paint removal and repainting.
In their own highwire act, crews walk on secured chainlink fence as they move around the tight spaces on the upper support beams of the U.S. 54/63 bridge. The middle section was the first to be enclosed for paint removal and repainting.

Section by section, work is progressing on the westbound U.S. 54/63 Missouri River bridge rehab project in Jefferson City.

The bridge is scheduled to be closed until about Aug. 12 for repairs MoDOT officials have said will extend the life of the structure, possibly as long as 25 years.

"Blasting of paint is taking place and primer coats have been put on," said construction inspector Doug Thomas. "The tarp we have on the areas we're working at can create stress on the bridge, so we can't cover it all at once."

Expansion devices such as rivets and joints are also being replaced if they show too much corrosion. Thomas said the closer they are to the water, the more likely they'll have to addressed.

"When it's all said and donem, the look of the bridge will not have changed," he said.

The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission awarded the contract to Saffo Contractors, a company based in Wilmington, North Carolina, for $7 million - $1.4 million less than the expected price.

"Of the $7 million total, $3 million of that is for the painting," Thomas said.

MoDOT officials have said this work, though inconvenient, will allow them to properly maintain valuable assets, which if not properly maintained, would mean replacing the bridge at a cost of $100 million.

The bridge acts as a major thoroughfare in and out of Jefferson City, carrying around 28,000 vehicles per day.

The closure of the bridge was delayed two weeks until the end of April for changes in the contractor's planned process and procedures for removing the oil paint and ensuring a smooth surface for new paint.

Despite that and the concerns over traffic jams, Thomas said there haven't been as many problems as they thought there would. 

"We had monitors out to check on traffic at the start of the work, but as we went along, we found few major back ups," he said. 

"The most problems have been the merging of traffic from Columbia coming off of U.S. 63."

The complete rehabilitation of the bridge is taking 18 months to complete so all the work will be done sometime next year.