Community Corner

First it Was Water, Now the Wind Slows Bridge Construction

Workers make progress on the Old Gravois Road bridge before the winds picked up

Workers placing the steel girders in place on the Old Gravois Road bridge were making good progress this week until the winds picked up today, making the placement of the steel too precarious for those responsible for finishing the deck on the new span.

The long-delayed Old Gravois Road bridge between Fenton and Sunset Hills saw a spurt of progress this week as massive steel support beams were swung into place. The bridge has been beset by delays, mostly caused by the high river levels on the Meramec River. Now Mother Nature is throwing bridge builders another curve as the winds have picked up, making the positioning of the girders a more precarious process. After the water finally dropped low enough two weeks ago to finish building the concrete supports, city officials were looking forward to the arrival of the steel beams and to their placement atop the support columns. Earlier in the week, the beams were being swung into place at a steady pace with a  goal of finishing that phase of the construction by Friday. But the autumn breezes picked up making Monday a more realistic goal, according to Mark Sartors, Fenton city administrator.

"They expected to be finished (with the beams) this week," Sartors said. "But it looks like now that they'll wind down Monday."

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Sartors said the beams weigh about 28,000 pounds each, but the their surface area puts them at the mercy of the wind. The windy weather is expected to abate somewhat on Monday

The next roadblock for the Old Gravois Road bridge likely will be weather that could be too cold to pour the concrete bridge deck, which could end up being delayed until warmer weather next March. And with that, Sartors said the bridge likely won't be ready for drivers until next July or August.

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Meanwhile, the Old Highway 141 bridge over Fenton Creek is getting closer to being opened. With the bridge deck poured, Satrors said "optimistically" it will be open by the end of the month.

Both bridges have been the victim of Mother Nature as Meramec River flooding kept workers from being able to work on either span. But the recent stretch of good weather over the last couple of months allowed the bridge builders to get a good run at finishing the two projects


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