Motorists traveling along Route 45 near Weston will soon see construction to replace the Route 45 Bridges over the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad and Bear Creek. Higher traffic volumes and larger loads have made it necessary for MoDOT to address these ailing bridges.
In a cost-share effort between MoDOT and Kansas City Power & Light, these bridges will be replaced by the end of 2010. To minimize traffic delays, a temporary bridge will be built next to the Bear Creek Bridge until the new bridge is complete.
Crews will began construction on the temporary bridge on Monday, August 3 and are expected to finish by the end of September. There are currently no impacts to traffic along Route 45 in this area, however, as the temporary bridge is tied into the existing roadway, motorists will begin to see a flagging operation to move traffic through the area as safely as possible.
The Safe & Sound crews begin construction on the new Bear Creek Bridge sometime between October 2009 and July 2010. The BNSF Bridge will be complete by the end of 2010 with a new bridge built next to the existing structure.
The Challenge of Historic Bridges
The Route 45 Bridges over Bear Creek and the BNSF Railroad will be replaced with two new structures to enhance the safety for motorists traveling through the area and to make the best use of taxpayers’ money.
Both of these bridges are unusual and rare for the state of Missouri. They are historic superstructures based on their age and the design. There are only a few of these single, long-span bridges across the entire state. Both are more than 70 years old.
The challenge was not whether a problem exists, but how to fix both bridges. There were three options to choose from: do nothing; make necessary repairs through maintenance; or do complete bridge replacement.
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