The New Mississippi River Bridge is a bridge

Bridge

A bridge is a structure built to span physical obstacles such as a body of water, valley, or road, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle...

, currently under construction, which will eventually cross the Mississippi River

Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

, connecting St. Clair County, Illinois

St. Clair County, Illinois

St. Clair County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. In 1970, the U.S. Census Bureau placed the mean center of U.S. population in St. Clair County. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 270,056, which is an increase of 5.5% from 256,082 in 2000. Its county seat is...

 to the city of St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...

. The structure will relieve traffic on nearby bridges, most importantly the Poplar Street Bridge

Poplar Street Bridge

The Poplar Street Bridge, officially the Bernard F. Dickmann Bridge, completed in 1967, is a long deck girder bridge across the Mississippi River between St. Louis, Missouri and East St. Louis, Illinois...

, which carries I-44, I-55, I-64, I-70, and US 40

U.S. Route 40

U.S. Route 40 is an east–west United States highway. As with most routes whose numbers end in a zero, U.S. 40 once traversed the entire United States. It is one of the original 1920s U.S. Highways, and its first termini were San Francisco, California, and Atlantic City, New Jersey...

.

The bridge is of a cable-stayed

Cable-stayed bridge

A cable-stayed bridge is a bridge that consists of one or more columns , with cables supporting the bridge deck....

 design and has a proposed main span of 1,500 feet (457 m). It will carry four mainline traffic lanes (down from the originally planned eight), with room to add a lane in each direction, providing for expansion and reconfigurability. It will also be designed so that a companion bridge could be built beside it.

When all stages are complete, Interstate 70

Interstate 70

Interstate 70 is an Interstate Highway in the United States that runs from Interstate 15 near Cove Fort, Utah, to a Park and Ride near Baltimore, Maryland. It was the first Interstate Highway project in the United States. I-70 approximately traces the path of U.S. Route 40 east of the Rocky...

 will be re-routed over the new bridge. It will meet the existing I-70

Interstate 70 in Missouri

In the U.S. state of Missouri, Interstate 70 is generally parallel to the Missouri River. This section of the transcontinental Interstate has its western terminus at the Kansas state line on the Lewis and Clark Viaduct, concurrent with U.S...

 at Cass Avenue and connect with the existing Interstate 55

Interstate 55 in Illinois

In the U.S. state of Illinois, Interstate 55 is a major north–south Interstate Highway that connects the St. Louis, Missouri and Chicago metropolitan areas. It runs from the Poplar Street Bridge in East St. Louis to U.S. Route 41 near downtown Chicago...

/Interstate 64/I-70

Interstate 70 in Illinois

Interstate 70 is a part of the Interstate Highway System that runs from Cove Fort, Utah to Baltimore, Maryland. In the U.S. state of Illinois, the Interstate highway runs from the Missouri state line at the Mississippi River in East St. Louis east to the Indiana state line near Marshall...

 in East St. Louis

East St. Louis, Illinois

East St. Louis is a city located in St. Clair County, Illinois, USA, directly across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, Missouri in the Metro-East region of Southern Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 27,006, less than one-third of its peak of 82,366 in 1950...

. The remaining stretch of I-70

Interstate 70 in Missouri

In the U.S. state of Missouri, Interstate 70 is generally parallel to the Missouri River. This section of the transcontinental Interstate has its western terminus at the Kansas state line on the Lewis and Clark Viaduct, concurrent with U.S...

 through downtown St. Louis will be redesignated Interstate 44

Interstate 44 in Missouri

In the U.S. state of Missouri, Interstate 44 runs northeast from the Oklahoma state line near Joplin to Interstate 55 in downtown St. Louis. It runs for a total of 290 miles in Missouri.-Route description:...

 as indicated at the MODOT/ILDOT site for the bridge.

Ground was broken officially on April 19, 2010 with plans for completion by 2015. Currently, both the Missouri and Illinois approaches are being built.

Features

Once construction is completed, expected to be in 2015, the bridge will be one of a kind in North America. The main span of the bridge will be 1500 feet (457.2 m) in length, with a total span length of 2,803 feet. It will be 86 feet (26.2 m) wide. Cables will stretch from the bridge deck to the tops of two "A" shaped towers, which will reach 435 feet (132.6 m) above I-70. According to the Illinois and Missouri Departments of Transportation, the new bridge’s main span will consist of 1000 miles (1,609.3 km) of 0.6 inches (15.2 mm) stay-cable strand—enough for nearly two round trips from St. Louis to Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

. Nearly 15,000 tons of structural steel

Structural steel

Structural steel is steel construction material, a profile, formed with a specific shape or cross section and certain standards of chemical composition and mechanical properties...

 will be used, along with 90,600 cubic yards of concrete for the foundation, deck slab, and towers and 8,600 tons of reinforcing steel.

Budget

The original design of the bridge and surrounding area put the project estimate at nearly $1.6 billion. Soon, both state governments decided that this price tag would not be able to be met by the state governments, and a new design, submitted in 2007, put the new estimate at $667 million. Of this $667 million, $264 million will go to relocating I-70 in Illinois, $57 million to relocating I-70 in Missouri, with the last $346 million going to the bridge construction itself. The Illinois state government is committed to spending $313 million, with Missouri contributing $115 million. The last $239 million is being received in a grant from the federal government.

Proposal of Toll Bridge

The funding of the bridge project was the topic of lengthy debates between both the Illinois and Missouri governments. After receiving the federal grant, Illinois was ready to finance the project in order to get it started as soon as possible. Missouri was not as prepared, saying that it had more important highway projects to work on in the state. Missouri transportation officials then wanted to sell the bridge rights to a private company, saving the state millions of dollars. This would have manifested in the form of a toll bridge, but Illinois officials and several St. Louis congressman demanded a toll-free crossing. However, in a deal signed February 28, 2008 between Missouri governor Matt Blunt

Matt Blunt

Matthew Roy Blunt served as the 54th Governor of Missouri from 2005 to 2009. Before his election as governor, Blunt served ten years in the United States Navy, was elected to serve in the Missouri General Assembly in 1998 and as Missouri's Secretary of State in 2000.A Republican, Blunt was elected...

 and Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich

Rod Blagojevich

Rod R. Blagojevich is an American politician who served as the 40th Governor of Illinois from 2003 to 2009. A Democrat, Blagojevich was a State Representative before being elected to the United States House of Representatives representing parts of Chicago...

, the two parties agreed that the bridge will not be tolled. This ended the attempt by Missouri officials to privatize the bridge, selling the rights to build, operate and maintain it up to 99 years, to an outside company.

Bids

An initial estimate of $190 million for the bridge's main span proved $39 million too low. The bid for the span from a joint venture of Massman Construction Co. of Kansas City, Traylor Bros. Inc. of Indiana and St. Louis-based Alberici Corp. set the figure at $229.5 million. Another bid by a joint venture of American Bridge Co. and Dragados USA, was $274.9 million. On December 30, 2009, the joint venture of Massman Construction Co. of Kansas City, Traylor Bros. Inc. of Indiana and St. Louis-based Alberici Corp. were awarded the contract for the main span.
MoDOT previously agreed to cover any run overs in cost, and fears have been aired of the project being scaled back.

Design Challenges

Subsurface exploration done by geotechnical engineering

Geotechnical engineering

Geotechnical engineering is the branch of civil engineering concerned with the engineering behavior of earth materials. Geotechnical engineering is important in civil engineering, but is also used by military, mining, petroleum, or any other engineering concerned with construction on or in the ground...

 company Modjeski and Masters showed the existence of thick deposits of “low-density” sand below the water table. Limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

 bedrock is 120 feet (36.6 m) below the surface on the Illinois side and between 30 and 60 feet (18.3 m) below the surface on the Missouri side. The loose sand, in combination with the project location's high seismic design requirements, results in the potential for liquefaction

Liquefaction

Liquefaction may refer to:* Liquefaction, the general process of becoming liquid* Soil liquefaction, the process by which sediments become suspended* Liquefaction of gases in physics, chemistry, and thermal engineering* Liquefactive necrosis in pathology...

 during an earthquake

Earthquake

An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...

. To accommodate these conditions, the foundations were changed to feature 12 feet (3.7 m), 120 feet (36.6 m) drilled piers founded in rock to support the bridge superstructure. Several other approaches were considered, including in-situ densification of the sands.

Land Sale Controversy

In 2003, land intended to be used for the bridge was sold by the City of St. Louis Land Reutilization Authority to a private developer for $2. The MoDot warned the developer not to build in early 2008. The developer completed the construction of 400 storage units on the property. MoDot offered the developer a $1.7 million buy out, which was turned down. The property was condemned, and a circuit court assessed the property at $2.3 million. MoDot is currently contesting this amount.

Naming Controversy

In August 2004 William Perkins and Russ Reike, members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, gave Rep. Jerry Costello

Jerry Costello

Jerry Francis Costello is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1988. He is a member of the Democratic Party and the dean of Illinois's 21-member Congressional delegation. The 12th district includes the St. Louis area suburb cities and stretches to deep Southern Illinois.-Early life,...

 (D-IL) petitions with over 4,000 signatures supporting the naming of the new bridge "Veteran's Memorial Bridge". This effort was supported by Rep. John Shimkus

John Shimkus

John Mondy Shimkus is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1997. He is a member of the Republican Party....

 (R-IL) and Illinois Governor Pat Quinn

Pat Quinn (politician)

Patrick Joseph "Pat" Quinn III is the 41st and current Governor of Illinois. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Previously elected three times to statewide office, Quinn was the sitting lieutenant governor and became governor on January 29, 2009, when the previous governor, Rod Blagojevich,...

. The Missouri State Legislature voted on August 28, 2005 to name the bridge after Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan

Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....

. Another name which has been proposed (but remains unpopular) is the "Jerry F. Costello-William Lacy 'Bill' Clay Sr. Veterans Memorial Bridge." The Missouri House of Representatives approved the Costello-Clay bridge name in March 2011 but the Missouri Senate Transportation Committee rejected it in April 2011. Some groups are pushing "Women Veterans Memorial Bridge." At this time, the bridge does not have an official name.

Minority Labor Controversy

In August 2011, community leaders in East St. Louis lodged complaints with the Illinois Department of Transportation stating that there were not enough minority groups represented in the labor force. Federal law requires that any public works project that is fully or partially funded by federal dollars must have 14.6% of the labor force be minority group members. Though the project meets these requirements according to contractor records, the activists argue that the labor force is not representative of those living in the region. A protest and work stoppage on the Illinois portion of the bridge has been threatened but work on the bridge continues.

External links

• New Mississippi River Bridge project website
• Construction Web Camera
• 360 Degree Panorama Of the Mississippi River Bridge Project construction site.