OSAGE RIVER BRIDGE
Tuscumbia, MO
PROJECT DETAILS
- Design Criteria:
- Provide a replacement structure that could be rapidly constructed.
- Provide a durable bridge in a rural setting.
- Owner: Missouri Department of Transportation
- Designer: APAC – Kansas, Inc
- Engineer: Harrington & Cortelyou Inc., Kansas City, MO.
- Total Cost: $8.5 million
- Length: 970 feet
- Date Opened: August 2010
On Feb. 17, 2009, the Missouri Department of Transportation becoming the first state in the nation to have signed a contract and started construction on a transportation project funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Within minutes of President Obama signing the economic recovery bill MoDOT went to work to replace the 1933 era bridge over the Osage River bridge near Tuscumbia with an new $8.5 million, 970 ft long bridge.
The existing bridge had limited capacity of only 15 ton and it were to become unusable, drivers would need to make a 35-mile detour to use the next closest crossing.
MoDOT had engineers from Harrington & Cortelyou Inc., Kansas City, Mo., complete the bridge’s design. The new bridge is 28 ft wide that allows for two 11-ft driving lanes and two 3-ft shoulders. The bridge’s seven spans range from 88 ft to 221 ft in length. The two spans on each end are made of precast concrete girders, while the three long center spans feature girders of welded steel plate. The spans are supported by two abutments and six drilled-shaft piers sitting on bedrock. The bridge deck is cast-in-place concrete with epoxy-coated reinforcing steel.