The Highway W bridge, also known as the Hilliard Bridge to most native Poplar Bluff residents, is expected to reopen ahead of schedule.
“We’re aiming for (Sept.) 14,” said Travis Slayton, project manager for Robertson Contractors Inc. “We will have the approach guard rails in Monday and Tuesday and striping on Wednesday, if the weather permits.”
The bridge, originally constructed in 1964, is located between County Road 525 and Ravenwood Lane on W Highway near Poplar Bluff.
It was closed June 1 for replacement as part of Gov. Mike Parson’s Focus on Bridges program. The project accounts for a little under $2 million of the $25.5 million budgeted for bridge repairs in the area.
Since the June closure area residents have had to take detour routes as far as 23 miles for some.
The bridge completion was originally slated for Sept. 30, but the crew finished ahead of schedule, according to Slayton.
“To deliver a bridge of this size and this nature in this amount of time, we started with a really good design that Horner and Shifrin (Engineering) helped us with, so they helped us put a real good design together,” said Slayton.
He specifically praised Justin Stotts, foreman for the bridge project, for leading the crew on the project saying, “in the end, it all comes down to these guys and the execution of it and this is as good as it gets. We can’t say enough about the group that did this project.”
Due to the environmental restraints of an endangered mussel bed, the new bridge was constructed on the existing alignment of the original bridge and taken apart in segments to protect the riverbed habitat below.
Despite the environmental factors and the high temperatures, the construction crew was still able to complete the project ahead of schedule.
Slayton would like area residents to know, however the boat ramp access to the river will likely remain closed until the end of the month so crews can finish up underneath the bridge.