Scott County overpass wrecked by train to open Friday

ROCKVIEW, Mo. -- Friday's opening of the reconstructed Route M overpass in Scott County is the result of a wide-scale "team effort," according to Missouri Department of Transportation officials.

Initially, MoDOT set a goal of early September for the bridge opening, but district engineer Mark Shelton said the project's emergency status and the cooperation of departments led to an earlier completion date.

The overpass collapsed about 2:30 a.m. May 25 after a Union Pacific train struck a Burlington Northern Santa Fe train, derailing several rail cars and knocking down one of the bridge's support pillars. The National Transportation Safety Board's preliminary report issued in June said the Union Pacific train may have run through a stop signal.

Rich Thompson, left, and Kevin Lowe with Collins & Hermann, Inc. install some of the nearly 5000 feet of guardrail along the reconstructed Route M overpass, Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2013 in Rockview, Mo. A train collision partially collapsed the overpass in May. The Route M overpass is set to open Friday at noon. (Laura Simon)

Crews began cleaning the area "in the wee hours of the morning that Saturday of the crash, and by Sunday night it was cleaned up," Shelton said.

Also that weekend, MoDOT began negotiating with firms to begin designing the new overpass. Ultimately, consulting firm Burns & McDonnell was hired to assist in the design.

MoDOT accepted project bids June 28, and by July 1 awarded a $2,319,363 contract for an emergency bridge replacement to Goodwin Brothers Construction Co. Because of the "emergency" status, the company was permitted to begin construction immediately after the contract was awarded. Despite several days of downpours, the deck was completed by Aug. 18, keeping work on schedule for the tight deadline.

"The Goodwin Brothers are amazing," Shelton said. "They understood the importance of the project and approached the job with a can-do attitude. When weather issues came up, instead of taking the opportunity to find reasons not to get the work done, they found a way to work through it and get the work done on time."

Plans for the new overpass were completed in 30 days, and construction was completed in 60 days, he added. Typically, design and construction of a 300-foot bridge such as the Route M overpass would take almost a year, Shelton said.

"The reason we were able to move so quickly on the clean up and on the process of hiring a consultant and contractor was because of that emergency status," he said.

The reconstruction project was declared an emergency situation for two reasons. First, the railroad lines that run through the area are used by many trains, Shelton said, so getting them back up to full operation was a priority. Trains again ran in the area just three days after the accident.

More importantly, Shelton said MoDOT wanted to get drivers back onto the bridge and off the detour. Although it was only a quarter of a mile out of the way, he said the detoured route put automobile travelers crossing an at-grade intersection with a railroad line in Rockview. The overpass was constructed about 20 years ago to eliminate the use of the at-grade railroad crossing, which poses potential safety risks, Shelton explained.

When the new bridge opens to traffic at noon Friday, he said he does not expect drivers will notice many changes.

"They may notice it's a touch wider and a little bit higher above the train tracks, but most likely the traveling public wouldn't really notice any differences," Shelton said.

He said he has been very pleased with the work put in by departments and agencies to finish the overpass on schedule.

"It really was a team effort by the contractor, the consultant, MoDOT, our maintenance guys that responded right after the crash ... even the railroad companies have been really cooperative," he said. "Everyone stayed focused on the goal of getting a new bridge put up."

Shelton said there has been no communication to MoDOT from the National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the accident to determine the cause of the crash and whether either of the railroad companies will be responsible for replacement costs. Spokesman Terry Williams previously said the investigation would probably take about a year.

srinehart@semissourian.com

388-3641

Pertinent address:

Rockview, Mo.