ST. LOUIS – After finalizing an agreement with the contractor, MoDOT has an updated schedule to complete the work on eastbound and westbound I-44 over the BNSF railroad near Shrewsbury.
According to the latest contractual agreement with the contractor, all lanes will be in their final configuration by mid-July, with all work on the project completed before September 1. This includes completing the eastbound bridge, repairs on the westbound bridge, and the new driving surface on I-44 in the area near Shrewsbury.
As part of the agreement, the contractor has covered the costs of all additional design and construction, and will pay MoDOT more than $500,000 to cover the cost of the in-depth analysis and damages for the delay.
The construction on the project was delayed in November 2018 due to a concern with greater than usual cracking on the westbound I-44 bridge in the area. After hiring a third party to analyze the situation, the department determined that the bridge, as designed, was not able to appropriately handle the thermal expansion forces – the forces when bridges expand and contract due to heating and cooling. Since the report was issued, the contractor team updated designs for the eastbound bridge, restarted construction on the project and designed repairs for the westbound bridge.
“Through this all, the contractor has been working very hard to remedy the situation, and get this road back open to traffic while meeting the standards that Missouri taxpayers expect of work on their roadways. We appreciate the patience of the residents near the project and the daily commuters on I-44 as we worked through the process to ensure that this was fixed, and fixed correctly,” said said Tom Blair, MoDOT St. Louis District Engineer.
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