BRIDGE WORK IS PROGRESSING, BELIEVE IT OR NOT

A recent break in the winter weather allowed concrete to be poured again on the Missouri-side pier of the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge.

Until that work resumed, it didn't appear much work was taking place on the new bridge across the Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau. But a lot of work, primarily shoring up bedrock for a mid-river pier and building the approach from the Illinois side, has been going on. The work just hasn't been so noticeable.

Most of us judge progress on what we see, but building a bridge the size of the one going up here requires a lot of work that can't be seen.

We'll all be surprised how quickly work appears to progress when the span itself goes into place.