COLUMBIA, Mo. – For the second time in almost as many weeks, the Missouri Department of Transportation and its contractor, Emery Sapp and Sons, will slide a new bridge into place on Interstate 70.
The new I-70 bridge at Range Line Street joins the Garth Avenue bridge as the second bridge to be shifted into place as part of the project to replace several aging structures on I-70 in Columbia. The technique will also be used to place a new bridge at I-70 and Business Loop in early July.
To prepare for the bridge slide, the following streets and ramps will be closed beginning at 6 p.m. on Friday, June 3:
- Range Line Street at I-70;
- All I-70 on- and off-ramps at Range Line; and
- I-70 eastbound on-ramp at Providence Road.
Then at 8 p.m., one lane of I-70 in each direction will be closed at Range Line. By 5 a.m. on Saturday, June 4, two westbound lanes of I-70 traffic will be switched to the eastbound Range Line bridge. The eastbound bridge will continue to carry one lane of eastbound traffic, while the other eastbound lane of traffic will be routed down the eastbound off-ramp at Range Line and back up the on-ramp to I-70. The ramp closure and traffic changes will remain in place until 5 a.m. on Monday, June 6.
Workers will begin to slide the bridge at 7 a.m. on Saturday. The bridge is expected to be in place by noon that day. Then, at 8 p.m. on Sunday, one lane of I-70 in each direction will be closed as westbound traffic is shifted to the new westbound I-70 bridge at Range Line. Both eastbound and westbound lanes of I-70 are scheduled to be in their permanent location by 5 a.m. on Monday, June 6.
The eastbound on-ramp at Providence and the eastbound on- and off-ramps at Range Line will reopen by 6 a.m. Monday. The westbound on- and off-ramps at Range Line will remain closed until 6 p.m. Monday to remove materials used for the bridge slide.
In addition, one lane of I-70 in each direction will be closed at Garth Avenue from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m.on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to complete concrete median barrier placement and I-70 striping at Garth.
All work is weather permitting.
Hydraulic jacks and about 15 bottles of dishwashing liquid will be used to move the 87-foot Range Line bridge, which weighs 850,000 pounds or roughly the same as two jumbo jets. The dishwashing detergent is used as a lubricant to help slide the structure along stainless steel plates. It will take a force of 150,000 pounds to move the bridge 38 feet into its permanent location.
Anyone interested can watch the bridge slide on a camera posted on the project website - www.modot.org/ColumbiaBridges. A video showing the time-lapsed Garth bridge slide can also be found there.
For more information, including a complete look at traffic and pedestrian impacts associated with the project, visit www.modot.org/ColumbiaBridges.