More than half the deck on the Route 64 bridge near Nemo has been replaced and the painting of girders and other maintenance work also is quickly moving ahead, the Missouri Department of Transportation said.
The deck replacement work is taking place at night, with the bridge closed Sunday night through Thursday night (7 p.m. to 7 a.m.). This enables the contractor to tear out substantial sections of the existing deck the entire width of the bridge and set pre-cast concrete deck panels in place.
It will take 164 pre-cast, steel-reinforced panels to replace the deck on the 1,684-foot long bridge over Pomme de Terre Lake. Through Monday morning, 111 panels had been set.
The goal remains to have the entire deck replaced by Labor Day weekend.
If no major problems occur with the weather or construction operations, that goal should be reached, said MoDOT Resident Engineer Dennis Krenning, whose office is inspecting the project.
The contractor crews have developed workable system and are making steady progress each night, Krenning said.
"They've worked the technique out and improved upon it as they've gone along," Krenning said.
Work will continue after the Labor Day holiday to put down the final driving surface on the bridge, install new side barriers and repave the highway approaches to the bridge.
"We're beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel anyway," said Charlie Bell, of Columbia Curb and Gutter, the prime contractor on the $5.5-million project.
Most of the deck panels are 10-feet long by 27-1/2 feet wide. Each 10-foot panel weighs 27,500 pounds. The panels are formed in a work area two miles away and are trucked to the bridge. A crane mounted on a barge in the lake hoists the panels onto the deck.
The bridge is open to traffic during the day, although often a lane must be closed to enable crews to prepare for the next night's work. Flaggers are directing traffic.
Detours on state highways are marked -- Route 64, Route NN and Route 65. Electronic message boards are set up at various locations to alert drivers to the project and the nighttime bridge closings.
The bridge is opened to traffic on weekends and holidays to avoid disruptions to lake visitors.
Lake traffic is closed underneath the section of the bridge where the work is being done. Boaters are able to get through by following the signs directing them away from the bridge work above.
The new deck will have two 12-foot wide lanes, instead of the existing 11-foot wide lanes.
