The state transportation department has started an immediate survey of Missouri’s highway bridges. Department spokesman Jeff Briggs says yesterday’s river bridge collapse in Minneapolis put inspection crews to work.
He says Missouri has eleven bridges of the same design as the one that colapsed in Minneapolis. The oldest one is on Highway 240 at Glasgow. It was built in 19-22.
Briggs says department inspectors will be checking the eleven bridges at some time in the next five weeks. He each of the 10,000 bridges in the state system is inspected every two years. Briggs says motorists can assume a bridge is safe if it is open.
***************************
We asked the Missouri Department of Transportation for a list of the eleven deck truss bridges:
Buchanan County, Route 59, Atchison, 1938, Last inspected October, 2005
Butler County, Route 60, Poplar Bluff, 1934. Last inspected March, 2006
Camden County, Route 5, Hurricane Deck, 1935. Last inspected October 2006
Carroll County, Route 41, Miami, 1939, Last inspected February, 2007
Holt County, Route 159, Rulo, 1940, Last inspected September, 2006
Jackson County, Route 291, Liberty Bend, 1949, Last inspected July 2007
Saline County, Route 240, Glasgow, 1922, Last inspected January 2007
St. Louis County, Outer Road, Times Beach, 1931. Last inspected August, 2006
St. Louis County, Route 40, Old Daniel Boone, 1935, Last inspected November 2006.
Platte County, Route 69, Fairfax, 1935, Last inspected October, 2006
Warren County, Route 47, Washington, 1934, Last inspected June, 2005
MODOT says the Warren County Route 47 bridge was scheduled earlier for inspection next week.
It also says the Eads Bridge in St.Louis could be considered a deck truss bridge. It is maintained by the City of St.Louis, not the state.
No bridges have been built for the state highway system using the deck truss design since 1949.
