July 2, 2021 at 4:50 a.m.
| Updated July 2, 2021 at 12:37 p.m.
by
News Tribune
A rehabilitation project will begin next week on the U.S. 54/63 bridges over the Missouri River in Jefferson City.. This project includes regular maintenance procedures to extend the lives of both bridges, according to a Missouri Department of Transportation news release. Beginning Monday, a contractor working for MoDOT will begin repairing the substructures of both bridges as the first phase of the project. This work will take place off the roadway and will not impact traffic.The westbound bridge rehabilitation will consist of repairing all the bridge piers, while the eastbound bridge rehabilitation will consist of repairing the deck, expansion joints and piers, and applying an overlay to the driving surface. Both directions of U.S. 54/63 will be open to traffic throughout construction, but there will be nightly lane and ramp closures.
With all of the rain Central Missouri has received over the past week, it may be hard to believe drought conditions on the northern sections of the Missouri River have led the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to reduce the navigation season on the river by one month.
Per the river system storage check Thursday, and as outlined in the Corps' river operations manual, the service level to support navigation will be reduced 1,500 cubic feet per second from Gavins Point Dam in South Dakota. That means the river navigation season will be eight months instead of nine, ending Dec. 1 at the mouth in St. Louis.
With drought conditions continuing in the upper Missouri River basin, Corps officials said reducing navigation is a necessary water conservation measure to ensure continued service to all of the authorized purposes of the river for the short and long term.
