BRIDGE WORK SO FAR RECEIVES HIGH MARKS

Great pains are being taken to reassure the public that work so far on the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge in Cape Girardeau meets all design and safety standards. This effort comes as work on the bridge has been halted following the severance of a contract with Flatiron Structures Co.

With less than 20 percent of the bridge work completed, Flatiron and the Missouri Department of Transportation could not come to terms late last year on how to cover the cost of extra work in the middle of the Mississippi River. Initial borings indicated solid bedrock, but when Flatiron began working on a pier it found fissures much like cavities in a tooth.

Ordinarily, such fissures wouldn't present much of a problem. But the new bridge is being built to withstand an earthquake the magnitude of the New Madrid quake of 1812. As a result, the fissures are to be filled at a cost of an additional $4 million and a year's delay in completing the bridge project.

For a long time after work started on the bridge, there were rumors that things weren't going well. This led to additional talk that somehow the safety and integrity of the bridge were being compromised. But MoDOT was keeping a close eye on the construction activity. One engineer said this bridge was probably the most closely watched highway project in Missouri's history.

The agreement by MoDOT and Flatiron to end the construction project did little to ease the minds of those who continued to question the work done so far. In an unusual move, MoDOT has held meetings with local officials and the public to talk about the bridge work and to allay those concerns.

Among the items covered: Federal funding is still earmarked for the bridge. All of the work completed so far meets rigorous state standards. Work is expected to begin this spring to take care of the bedrock problems. Work on the Illinois side of the bridge structure also is likely to start this spring. Additional borings for other piers yet to be built have shown no fissure problems.

All in all, the message from MoDOT is reassuring. It also is commendable that highway officials have taken the initiative to provide information about the bridge project rather than have the rumors languish as construction resumes.

The work may take a year longer, but the word at this point is that the new bridge will be a first-rate structure. Given the condition of the narrow two-lane bridge that has been used since 1927, the modern four-lane span will be a welcome addition to the area's highway system.