Steel bridge kicks off infrastructure stimulus program

Steel bridge kicks off infrastructure stimulus program

In late February, an $8.5 million steel replacement bridge in Miller County near Tuscumbia, Mo., was approved under the new federal economic stimulus package for construction as a top priority for the state of Missouri. Because of the desire for rapid and economical construction, steel was selected for the bridge's main span.

"Today, the Show Me State again showed the nation we are leaders in transportation by having the first economic recovery act project in the country under construction," said Missouri Department of Transportation director Pete Rahn. "We promised we would be ready to go to make the best use of every dollar we receive through the economic recovery act to create jobs and make our highways safer. We delivered on that promise and then some."

The new 1,000-foot-long, 28-foot-wide steel bridge will replace the existing 75-year-old Osage River Bridge, which is the same length and just 20 feet wide. The bridge crosses a Missouri River tributary near the middle of the state, where the average daily traffic is more than 1,000 cars per day. However, it has been off-limits to large trucks since 2007 because of its poor structural condition.

The new bridge, built by general contractor APAC of Kansas City, will use 395 tons of structural steel for the bridge's 570-foot main span and will be positioned just upstream from the existing bridge.