Two familiar names in St. Louis construction have won a Missouri Department of Transportation contract to rebuild the Daniel Boone Bridge, which carries Interstate 64 across the Missouri River at Chesterfield.
Alberici Enterprises and Walsh Construction will start on the $125 million project in early 2013. The construction portion of the contract totals $111 million.
MoDOT director Kevin Keith called it a great day for his department and the region, saying St. Louis and St. Charles counties are getting a lot from the contract.
"We get a completely new bridge that's four lanes that are 12 feet wide with shoulders, instead of three lanes that are 10 feet wide with no shoulders," Keith said. "We also get a 10-foot wide mixed use trail that connects the Monarch Levee trail on one side with the Katy Trail on the other, roadway improvements, and a complete rehab of the existing bridge."
Best of all, Keith said, the Alberici-Walsh bid still came in $6 million under budget.
The project works this way:
- The bridge has two spans. The current westbound span was built in 1935; the eastbound span in the 1980s.
- Starting in February, crews will build a new eastbound span to the south of the current bridges.
- The new bridge will open Nov. 15, 2014. At that time, rehabilitation work will start on the current eastbound span. Westbound traffic will continue to use the 1935 span.
- Rehabilitation work will be completed July 2015. Crews will then add a new Chesterfield Airport Road interchange and an additional westbound lane. That work will take about two months.
- On Oct. 1, 2015, westbound traffic will shift to the newly rehabilitated span, which formerly carried eastbound traffic. That will take the current westbound span (which is almost 80 years old) out of service.
- That span will be demolished by December 31, 2015.
That schedule means fewer delays and hassles for the 50,000 drivers who cross the Boone bridge each day.
"St. Charles County calls them residents," St. Louis County chief operating officer Garry Earls said. "In St. Louis County, we call them customers. We really appreciate this opportunity to get those customers in, to help them to buy things in St. Louis County, to do good jobs in St. Louis County, to build a better St. Louis County and a better region."
Officials could not say how many jobs the project would create. Its manager says Alberici-Walsh will meet the regional goals for women and minorities on the workforce.
Follow Rachel Lippmann on Twitter: @rlippmann
