Chester Bridge Replacement

[edwaleni]

The Chester Bridge is a truss bridge originally constructed in 1942 to allow vehicles to cross the Mississippi River between Perryville, Missouri, and Chester, Illinois without using a ferry. The bridge was re-constructed in 1944 after a severe storm destroyed the main span.

MoDOT is currently the lead DOT on its replacement.

http://chesterbridgestudy.com/site/







The announcement of the new route was announced last month.



http://www.perryvillenews.com/news/bridge-study-team-picks-preferred-plan/article_5c22a180-c64a-11e8-9128-8f960dfcc19a.html

Bridge study team picks preferred plan

More than a year after making the announcement that a St. Louis engineering firm had been contracted to lead an environmental impact study focused on the aging Chester Bridge, the Missouri Department of Transportation announced recently that the study team has identified a tentative "preferred alternative"  for the project – a new replacement bridge that would be constructed approximately 75 feet upstream of the current bridge. 

The Chester Bridge, the only Mississippi River crossing between St. Louis and Cape Girardeau, is rated as "poor"  by the Missouri Department of Transportation, receiving grades of 4 out of 9 in three categories, including deck condition, superstructure and substructure.

MoDOT commissioned the study to determine if it was more feasible to repair the 75-year-old bridge or replace it.

"Based on the analysis and impacts of the reasonable alternatives presented at the last Community Advisory Group and Public Meeting, Alternative U-1 has been identified as the project's tentative preferred alternative,"  the MODoT release stated.

In March, during a meeting of the Chester Bridge Advisory Group at Chester City Hall, project manager Buddy Desai, vice-president of Missouri Transportation at CH2M in St. Louis, presented the reasonable alternatives, the shortened list of possible ways to address the 75-year-old bridge.

During the meeting, Desai updated the group on the progress of the study. MoDOT has led a study of improvements to the Horse Island Chute Bridge, which connects Hwy. 51 to the Chester Bridge, and the Illinois Department of Transportation is now involved in the project.

The previous project phase narrowed the list of options to what are called "reasonable alternatives."  

Those alternatives included U-1, which involved constructing a new standalone bridge 75 feet upstream; U-2, a new standalone bridge 375 feet upstream; and R-2, a plan that would involve rehabilitating the current structure as a one-way bridge along with the construction of a new upstream bridge that would allow traffic in the opposite direction.

Any new bridge constructed would feature two 12-foot lanes with an 8-10 foot shoulder on both sides.

The final approval of the of the preferred alternative will occur after the Federal Highway Administration reviews and approves the project's environmental assessment.

"We expect this to occur in early 2019,"  the statement reads. "Until the EA is approved by the FHWA, there exists a possibility that the Preferred Alternative may change."

Once the environmental assessment for the Chester Bridge Study is approved, a final public hearing will be held. More information related to that hearing is expected early next year.

[edwaleni]

Officials detail new Chester bridge plans

http://www.randolphcountyheraldtribune.com/news/20180925/officials-detail-new-chester-bridge-plans

Plans for a new bridge spanning the Mississippi River just north of the current Chester bridge were outlined by Missouri Department of Transportation officials at a recent Chester Chamber of Commerce meeting.

Buddy Desai, vice president of Missouri Transportation and Jason Williams, Department of Transportation project manager, told the audience at the Sept. 18 chamber meeting that the preferred plan of three options being discussed would be one to be built about 50 to 75 feet upstream from the current bridge. That plan, which has a $191 million cost, features two 12-foot lanes and 8 to 12 foot shoulders. The bridge project would include the Horse Island Chute.

Funding for the project would be 20 percent from the states of Missouri and Illinois and 80 percent from the Federal government.

"Absolute funding has not been identified at this time," they said.

The projected life span for the bridge would be around 75 years, Desai said. When asked why a four-lane bridge was not considered, Desai said that approximately 6,000 vehicles cross the Chester bridge daily and that number does not warrant a four-lane bridge.

[paulthemapguy]

Wow, yeah this is an old bridge.  I agree that the traffic doesn't warrant a 4-lane bridge.  We should perhaps have a road meet to visit this old-timey bridge before it's replaced?

[kevinb1994]

Wow, yeah this is an old bridge.  I agree that the traffic doesn't warrant a 4-lane bridge.  We should perhaps have a road meet to visit this old-timey bridge before it's replaced?

That's not a bad idea. I don't know who would be willing to host one, though. Perhaps Kim Harvey or someone else not too far from the project area?

[ilpt4u]

What all is involved in hosting? Chester is kinda in my neck of the woods...Even if I have never used that bridge

[kevinb1994]

What all is involved in hosting? Chester is kinda in my neck of the woods...Even if I have never used that bridge

Pick a decent restaurant in the area so we have a place to meet up for lunch. Pick a date that would work for all in attendance. It is also a good idea to scout the routing of the road meet in advance in order to figure out what will work and what won't. And the itinerary.

[SSR_317]

Good thing they closed the OTHER Chester Bridge (US 30 between East Liverpool, OH & Chester, WV) back in 1969 before it suffered the same fate as this one did. But it took them 8+ years to come up with a replacement there.