| Work Detail |
The Missouri Department of Transportation seems to be making the first step toward possibly replacing the nearly 74-year-old Chester Bridge. MoDOT shares the cost of maintenance and repair of the bridge, which connects Missouri Route 51 with Illinois State Route 150, with the state of Illinois--but Missouri is the lead state on the project. “You have to do some studies, and go through the environmental processes to go through where to place the bridge, and walk through that process,” said MoDOT Southeast District Engineer Mark Shelton. “We are going to be working toward hiring a consultant to help us figure out all those questions.” In previous inspection reports, the bridge was declared “functionally obsolete,” meaning it is no longer functionally adequate due to an outdated design. Shelton commented on the bridges age, saying “When you’ve got a river bridge that’s been there for 70-some years, there’s the idea of when it gets old enough, do you replace it or not? I think it’s a pretty easy question to answer, absolutely that bridge needs to be replaced.” Shelton said that during the evaluation process, which will also include a feasibility study, local input on both sides of the Mississippi River will be considered. Don Welge is the owner of the local Gilster Mary-Lee Corporation. His company employs over 500 people from the surrounding Perryville and Chester Ill. areas who commute to work using the bridge. Both the Perryville and Chester Gilster locations work together and require a constant flow of traffic. “We estimate that the company utilizes 200-250 bridge crossings per working day,” he said. “I can’t say a bridge replacement would have a direct effect on our business, however, if a wider bridge will provide greater safety for both cars and trucks, this certainly is a plus.” Gilster Mary-Lee is not the only local business that employees people from both states. Nearby Cape Girardeau opened the new Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge to traffic in December 2003, after three years of construction. It was built to replace the aging Cape Girardeau Bridge, which was a steel truss bridge, built back in 1928. Shelton was asked about bridge design, and how tourism and traffic volume generally factor into it. “All of those things have to be factored in,” he said. “It’s a structured that, when we get done with it, would ideally be there for a hundred years. All those things considered, you have to put a price tag on it.” No money has been set aside for the project as of yet. The original total from 1942 to build the Chester Bridge was $1,385,000. Shelton spoke of waiting to see what kind of funding would be needed as far as replacing the bridge. He hopes to have more information in the next few months about who may be selected to help with the bridge. Shelton stated that MoDOT would be putting out a request for proposals in the next few months. That process could take 18 months to two years to organize. In closing, he said, “I guess what I’m saying is we’re not going to have a new bridge in three years, this is just step one.” |
