Blunt signs bridge legislation

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. -- Gov. Matt Blunt signed legislation Wednesday that supporters say will allow the state to fix more than 800 bridges within five years.

Under the plan, called the Safe and Sound Bridge Program, Missouri will drastically speed the repairs of its bridges by awarding a single 30-year contract to fix and maintain 802 of its worst bridges.

"Building and maintaining a high quality infrastructure is vital for the economic growth and safety of Missourians," Blunt said before signing the bill while standing on one of Missouri's oldest interstate overpasses in northern St. Joseph.

Lawmakers approved the new bill last week during a special session, after waiving conventional contractor requirements.

Although Missouri highway officials had outlined the bridge plan almost a year before the Aug. 1 collapse of a highway bridge killed 13 people in Minnesota, Blunt acknowledged that the tragedy brought more urgency to the issue.

"A month ago, Americans all across the country, including Missouri, were reminded of the tragedy that can occur when we allow our infrastructure to deteriorate," Blunt said. "As governor, I had already decided that we couldn't wait another five months to begin work on the problem."

The contractor that wins the job will be required to fix or replace the 802 bridges within five years, rather than the two decades it would take at the state's current pace of bridge maintenance.

The contractor would be paid only after all repairs are done and would have to maintain the bridges in satisfactory condition for the next 25 years.

State Sen. Bill Stouffer, R-Napton, said he believed the new program would bring tremendous savings to Missouri in the long run.

"We are buying bridges for the future at today's prices," Stouffer said. "We won't know until the bids are in, but I suspect the financing costs will be offset by inflation over 30 years."

Only three states -- Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Iowa -- have more bridges in poor conditions than Missouri. Of Missouri's 24,024 bridges, nearly 20 percent, or 4,595, are structurally deficient, according to a 2006 Federal Highway Administration report.

The bridge where the signing ceremony was held is at the intersection of Interstate 29 and U.S. 169. Nearly 10,000 vehicles a day cross the overpass, which was built in 1962 and has been resurfaced several times.

Almost all of the bridges included in Missouri's plan are in poor or serious condition, meaning they are just a step away from closure. Even with the large repair project, 171 other bridges in serious or poor condition would not be repaired.

The plan largely addresses bridges that are less than 300 feet long, without environmental concerns and without need of accompanying changes to the approaching roads.

It requires the winning contractor to secure its own private financing. The state would then use at least one-third of its annual federal bridge dollars to pay the contractor.

The Missouri Department of Transportation estimates construction costs of between $400 million and $600 million, but financing and maintenance costs could easily double the ultimate cost to the state.