Poplar Bluff Industrial Park overpass open now

The Poplar Bluff Industrial Park overpass opened Friday morning, following a ceremony with Butler County commissioners and other local officials.

The $3.4 million overpass project has been under construction for most of 2019, with efforts to secure funding starting as early as 2015. It is located at the Cravens Road entrance of the industrial park.

About 25 trains a day pass through this section of farmland southwest of the industrial park.

The design required two and a half feet of concrete between the train tracks and the bridge supporting elements, to create a crash cushion.

The concrete walls on either side of the tracks are backed by a combined 76,000 cubic yards of dirt and 30,000 tons of rock. Steel straps are secured into the rock to hold the walls in place.

About 2,000 cars pass through this stretch of Cravens Road a day, according to officials.